Don't Hold Your Breath
by Kalafina94
Summary: The two girls peeked out from behind the car, rearing back at the putrid stench that filled their noses the second they did so. A half-gone face. Milky-white eyes. Blackened teeth. Horrid groans. Cameron wasn't quick enough to stop Sophia's screech. She could hear the others shouting for her and Sophia as they jumped the rail. It was too late to turn back. "Please hurry, Rick..."
1. Chapter 1

**This is merely another guilty past time of mine that wouldn't leave me be. It's also posted on Wattpad! :) I'm trying to fix the way I write and become more the character rather than just writing them for the hell of it. Please enjoy this first chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead. **

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"Khendra, I'm scared," a high voice whimpered fearfully. Her bottom lip trembled violently and her wide eyes were sparkling brightly. Not from happiness, but rather from fear and helplessness. Her face was dirty, smudged with dirt and random blood splatters. Her clothes had seen better days, what with them being all torn and certain places being drenched in blood. I couldn't count all the times that she had fallen in our haste to get out of an area that had been overrun with the Biters and all the times we had had numerous close calls as we traveled from one place to the next. We both pretty much looked like a duo of ragged hermits.

I placed a dirt and blood splattered hand over her mouth gently, prompting her into silence. "Shh," I shushed her quietly, lowly. I couldn't have her panicking on me if she saw just how scared shitless I really was. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared. Nope. I was more than scared. I was already imagining all the painful ways that I could die right here and now, but I wasn't going to tell Cammy that. I knew how high her voice could get and quite frankly, I wasn't in the healthiest of conditions nor was I in the mood for having to once again flee from the hordes upon hordes of Biters that would come running at the sound of food being nearby. "You need to be quiet, Cammy. You don't want them to find our hiding place, do you?"

The little girl—Cammy—gave a pitiful whimper and buried her head into my backpack. Her tiny fists clenched tightly onto the straps and I could feel her tremors wrack my body. I ran a reassuring hand through her hair, grimacing at the layer of grease that had once again taken up residence in her once long, bouncy curls. I wondered when was the last time she had had a shower and dully noted that it had been a couple months since she had last bathed. Disgusting, but at this point in time, survival ruled over cleanliness.

A shuffling of feet and a gurgled moan had me snapping to attention. I quickly placed a hand over Cammy's mouth to cover her gasp so as to not alert the Biter that was no doubt lurking in our current direction. Keeping my hand over her mouth a second longer—a clear warning for her to remain quiet, which she thankfully headed— and carefully urging her backwards after swiftly handing her my bag, I waited until she had hidden herself behind the back of a trash can and peered around the corner of the alleyway that we had currently taken to hiding in, my right hand fingering the gun that rested on my thigh.

Sure enough, one of those things had broken away from the large group of Biters that were lingering a mile or so down the road and was shuffling towards us at a slow, loping gate. Cloudy white eyes gazed at nothing and saw nothing as it limped towards us, its mouth hanging wide open to reveal black, bloody teeth as another raspy groan escaped its throat. It seemed to have been dead for quite a while. It's skin was grayer than the rest and was decaying heavily in numerous places, especially around the torn flesh around it's right arm and leg. It would make killing it a hell of a lot easier than having to a kill a freshly turned Biter.

It didn't seem to know that we were but a few feet away from it, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I didn't want it catching hold of our scent and come running with its other buddies close behind. Signing to Cammy that I was going to leave her alone for a short while—I could see in her eyes how heavily she wanted to protest, but I knew that she was still heeding my earlier warning about being quiet since she only gazed at me with scared eyes—and for her to stay hidden behind the trash cans, I waited until she hesitantly nodded her head before I slinked around the corner.

_Who would've thought that all those years of learning how to Jazz run would finally be put to good use, _I thought humorlessly as I crept across the ground, taking long, quiet strides and using destroyed vehicles as hiding spots as I crept closer to the Biter that threatened our safety. I took my hand away from my gun and slowly drew one of the mini daggers that I kept sheathed at my hip as I crouched behind a vehicle that had placed me behind the Biter. It seemed to smell that food was nearby as it came to a sudden halt, its face tilted upwards as if it were sniffing the air and I could hear a low, hungry moan from where I was hiding. And this was exactly what I feared would happen if I had just left it alone.

Checking that the other Biters weren't paying attention or had heard the Biter's moans, I flicked my wrist at the Biter, sending my dagger straight into the back of its head with a sickening crunch. It faltered for a second before it fell with a heavy thump to the ground, black blood soaking the area around its head in an almost dramatic fashion. Extracting the weapon from its head with a sickened expression at the wet squelch that sounded, I wiped the contaminated blood on my pant leg and quickly headed back towards the alley where Cammy would be waiting for me.

_"Go to Atlanta. There was supposed to be a safe zone that had somehow successfully managed to keep the infection from getting in. There have food and water and protection. You and Cammy head on over there, Khendra. I'll meet you there as soon as I can."_

"You liar," I grumbled under my breath, unable to help the spiteful thoughts that clouded my mind as my father's voice echoed in my head. Stupid. It was his reckless idea that had almost gotten Cammy and I killed the instant we had first stepped foot in Atlanta. "You said this place promised safety, help that would keep us alive from these things. You forgot to mention that this _'safe zone' _had been overrun from the get-go. This place belongs to the dead now."

It was difficult. Living in this city that was crawling left and right with these dead things. They reacted to the slightest of sounds and came running like packs upon packs of rabid wolves when they thought food was close by. Food was almost nonexistent and water was rare, if not already gone by now. Every store Cammy and I had come across ever since we first arrived here two weeks ago had been raided, leaving behind nothing that could be of use. There was nothing here. There were no survivors. No food. No water. No protection. _Nothing. _

A month ago, if someone had told me that I would be surviving in a world filled with dead beings that craved human flesh and that I would have to live off the land like people of old had done, I would've promptly laughed and proceed to ask them what it was that they were smoking and if I could possibly have some. It was ludicrous. These things were only supposed to happen in movies. In games. Not in real life. It just...wasn't possible. And yet, it was like I had made some God angry at me for thinking that something like this couldn't have happened. Like I was questioning their power. I certainly believed in them now.

One second, I'm sitting in my room with my friends, having a good time and laughing at the stupidity that was us humans as reports about people getting high on bath salts became more and more frequent. And the next second, we were all running for our lives as people suddenly died, reanimated, and began craving the skin that covered our bodies. Very few people survived and those that didn't make it were changed into one of the dead at some point in time if they were bitten or scratched. There was no stopping them. They didn't tire. A head shot was the only thing that could kill them. Their hearing was _ridiculously _sensitive. It's like we had no advantages as humans anymore. Most would call it unfair. After all that's happened to me in the past few weeks, I'd call it leveling the playing field for us humans who were trying to play God.

"Come on, Cammy," I said, getting her to feet from her hiding spot. I noted that she had swung my bag over her shoulders and was thankful that it was in good hands for the time being. "We need to find somewhere safer."

"Cause we're not safe out in the open anymore?" She inquired softly, eyes shifting in every which direction as if a Biter would appear out of nowhere and spot us. Her hands wrung nervously together, twisting and pulling at her fingers until cracks could be heard. A hand over her own made her stop the mutilation of the bones.

"No. Not anymore." When she grasped a fistful of the back of my now too big shirt—two weeks of little to no food made one lose weight as if they were trying to be anorexic—and her breathing had quieted to a barely there breath of air, we jogged from the safety of our alley, keeping behind rows upon rows of cars and turning down multiple alleyways to avoid any run ins with Biters as we made towards the front of the city. Biters littered the area the closer we got to the road that would lead us out of the city and it wasn't long before we had to stop behind the safety of a car before the large herd that was gathered in the center of the street could spot us.

Curse words flew vehemently from my mouth as I glared at the Biters, wishing they would just combust and rot in the pits of Hell where they belonged. I mentally hoped that Cammy couldn't hear what was coming out of my mouth. I didn't want her developing any bad habits from me. God forbid she start shouting "shit" and "fuck" left and right like I did.

This herd was bigger than the herd that we had seen back down the road and while I was confident I could sneak around them, I knew I couldn't do that with Cammy. Not that she was a liability, but rather that I couldn't maneuver myself the way I wanted to without attracting attention. I couldn't very well leave her here while I leave to see if I could find a place that was secure enough for the night so that we could find a way out of here. So much could go wrong in the few minutes that I was gone and I wasn't comfortable risking Cammy's safety by leaving her in a supposedly safe place. And something could happen to me if I were to go off by myself. Worse comes to worse, I could possibly be bitten by a Biter that I hadn't seen coming and I would be forced to leave Cammy alone in this cruel world since I positively refused to become one of those things. It was a lose-lose situation. Once again, we were stuck.

"Khendra?" A light tug on my shirt grabbed my attention. I passed her a reassuring glance, one which seemed to slightly appease her as she stopped wringing my shirt like she was trying to see how tightly she could wrap it, and looked around. A convenience store across the road caught my attention. The front windows were shattered and I could see that many of the shelves inside had been tipped over, most likely from the haste of trying to get supplies and to get out of the city fast enough. The automatic doors had been destroyed entirely and it didn't take a genius to know that something heavy had been thrown through the doors so as to get inside. Squinting through the darkness that the sun's rays couldn't reach inside the store, I saw a door in the back of the store that I knew would surely lead up to the roof, providing an excellent view of the Biters and a way for me to monitor the streets for a safe way out. It also gave me a way to keep a close eye on Cammy should she ever try to play hero for the night.

"You see that store, Cammy?" I asked her, pointing. She followed the direction I was pointing in and nodded. "We're going to hold up in there for awhile so that we can come up with a plan to get out of here."

"How are we going to get over there?" She questioned, eyes suddenly turning sharp as she critically surveyed the shop. I knew her attention was mainly focused on the distance it would take for us to cross the road to get to the shop. It was a short walk, but it was still enough for a random Biter to look over and see us.

I bit back a smile. "I'm getting there." I looked towards the Biters and she followed my head's movement to stare at them, too. "We need to create a distraction, keep the Biters occupied while we get inside and barricade the doors and stuff so they can't get in should they find us."

Now, Cammy wasn't stupid. She was actually very smart for a nine-year-old. She noticed things that other kids her age wouldn't and she knew that while I didn't know what the hell was going on anymore, she knew that it was every man for himself nowadays and that her cooperation was very much needed if we were to survive. She just let her fear get the best of her sometimes. Like how she lost her cool earlier when that Biter almost found us. She was still a kid. I firmly believed that even though I knew she was growing mature way too fast for my tastes, she was still entitled to having kid time and having the emotional stress every kid her age worries about.

Cammy looked up at me, rolling her shoulders to get the bag into a more comfortable position. I went to take it from her, knowing how heavy it was since it was filled with quite a few necessities, but she stubbornly turned her shoulder away from my reaching hand. "What kind of distraction?"

"Noise," I said simply, dropping my hand.

It took her a while to put the pieces together and when she did, her face gave me a horrified look. Noise was loud. And anything loud attracted Biters from miles around depending on how loud something was. "I'm not letting you be the distraction," She said firmly, her high voice doing nothing to intimidate me. If anything, it looked like she was merely pouting at me instead of trying to glare at me. "Can't you just fire off a round or something? It'd save us the effort!"

I arched an eyebrow at her in disbelief. "Do you _want _the whole city of Biters on our ass?"

Cammy's cheeks burned and she looked away sheepishly. She seemed to have forgotten that loud noises attract these things. I patted her head. "We'd have the advantage if we didn't waste bullets on something as simple as a distraction." Here, I gave her a small smirk. "And who said anything about me being the distraction?"

Confused, Cammy watched as I picked up a large stone and gaped in absolute horror as I pelted the rock as hard as I could into a car near the crowd of Biters, successfully shattering the window and setting off the alarm. "What happened to being quiet?!" She hissed as I pushed her to the ground and shoved her under a car as the blaring alarm attracted every Biter within a six mile radius. I quickly followed after her as I merely gave her a smirk, shushed her, and waited. She grumbled under her breath for a little bit before she stopped, nose scrunched up in annoyance at my so-called "distraction".

Shuffling steps caught my attention and I faintly heard Cammy's breath hitch as multiple pairs of feet began passing by our hiding spot. I wrinkled my nose as some of them with bare feet passed us. And here I was, thinking that zombies couldn't have smelly feet. God was I wrong. Ugh.

I wasn't going to lie when I say that both Cammy and I jumped out of our skins when a Biter or two would stumble into the car accidentally, making it shake above us. Sweat had managed to accumulate above my brow and drops slipped down the side of my face as I watched dozens upon dozens of feet pass us by. It wasn't hot necessarily-that was saying something, seeing as how Georgia was freaking famous for having nasty heat waves-and the shade the underside of the car provided was nice, but the anxiety in my gut was making me twitch constantly and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from making any unnecessary noises.

Glancing over at Cammy, I saw that she was no better off. Her hand was covering her mouth in a feeble attempt to prevent herself from hyperventilating. I could see her pupils dilating slowly with fear, but I could see she was trying to keep on a brave face for me.

When the last pair of feet disappeared, Cammy moved to crawl out from under the car. I snatched her arm before she could go out any further and pulled her back down with a shake of my head. She gave me a confused look, but complied, remaining still beside me. She found out why a minute later. A duo of feet soon came into view and Cammy's eyes widened and she gave me a look.

My heart was beating a mile a minute in my chest, my arms shaking with adrenaline. To survive in a place like this, it was better to be more cautious than more impatient. I would've thought Cammy would be thinking this after an incident similar to ours happened a while back. If I hadn't grabbed her the instant she moved, she would've instantly been spotted by these lagging Biters and wouldn't make it away in time before they overcame her.

The grateful look in her eyes that she sent me was enough and we waited a while longer after the last pair of feet disappeared, holding our breaths the entire time. After what felt like an eternity, I pulled myself out from under the car and glanced around. There didn't seem to be anymore Biters coming and I was relieved to see that the now larger herd was very much interested in the car, whose alarm still blared loudly.

Once Cammy had crawled out with me, we made a break for the store doors, Cammy grinning stupidly to herself as we reached the store easily without attracting any attention. Pointing out the glass that littered the floor, we tip-toed across the glass as lightly as we could, both of us cringing when one of us accidentally crushed a piece beneath our feet. After moving the shelf that blocked the door, Cammy hurried up the stairs as I grabbed a few cans of food that hadn't expired from the ground and snatching somewhat cold bottles of water from the freezers and going up after her.

Handing our new findings off to Cammy, I tore loose a thin pipe from the edge of the roof and stuck it through the door handle, grunting as I struggled to bend the metal around the door handle and a nearby pipe. Once I was satisfied with the somewhat shitty job, I sat myself beside Cammy, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards me. She giggled slightly and wrapped her arms around my middle.

"We're safe now," She said. "Now all we have to do is wait for Daddy to come and get us."

_"You'll be safe there. Wait there until I arrive and we'll figure things out once we're together."_

I didn't have the heart to deny Cammy's innocent sentence, so I merely smiled at her as the sun's tip touched the horizon. She either didn't see the sadness that was present in my eyes, or she merely decided to ignore it, as she snuggled up into my side, relaxing into me.

What Cammy didn't know was that we were leaving the city whether Dad was with us or not. She didn't seem to realize that we were in dangerous territory and we were practically sitting ducks just from merely staying an extra day. And I also didn't have the heart to tell her that Dad wasn't coming to get us. Cause I was almost one hundred percent positive that Dad was dead and that he had turned into one of those things the second he had hung on me.

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**And that's the end! I hope I did okay. I'm trying to take things slow so that I have time to get a feel of my character and elaborate the way she thinks and see things through her own eyes. Thank you for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry to all of you waiting for me to update IAHF. I know I've kept you all waiting and I'm terribly sorry, but I'm suffering horribly when it comes to writing it and I need a mental break from it, so this little beauty is gonna be the story that I'll go to if I can't focus on anything else. So yea. :) Please enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

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"Khendra, we're low on water again," Cammy said as she took stock of all the items that we still had and for what we could possibly need. Looking over my shoulder at her from my seated position on the ledge that overlooked the entire road, my eyes quickly zeroed in on the two water bottles that rested beside Cammy and frowned. Those two alone could probably last us another day and a half. Two if we were lucky. But seeing as how we were leaving the city sometime today and would be heading out into the wilderness, we wouldn't be able to deduct how long it would take for us to find another water source and by the time we did find one, we'd probably be too dehydrated to really do anything. We'd be easy targets for any passing Biters.

"I'll go down into the store and see if I can find any more," I said, hopping down from my perch and crouching beside Cammy to take stock of what little that we had left. I was almost positive that I had seen more drinks in the freezers behind the counter, but I wasn't too sure. "What else do we need?"

Cammy hummed thoughtfully, taking in everything that we had. We seemed to be set on medicine. We had plenty of gauze, band aids, and a huge bottle of Peroxide that would last us for awhile longer until we found more in another town. Food seemed to be alright for now, but I was going to grab some more of the canned stuff that I saw last night just in case. Rather be safe than sorry. I was dismayed to notice that we were also very low on ammunition.

Seeing as how Cammy didn't know how to use a gun and I wasn't going to be teaching her anytime soon, I was in charge of the two semi-automatic pistols and the semi-automatic rifle that we had swiped from an unfortunate soul who had been mauled by Biters in an alleyway a week beforehand. There were two cartridges a piece for the pistols, though one was almost gone, and the rifle had a full cartridge, plus the bullets that were already loaded in it. I frowned. I'd avoided using the guns since figuring out that the dead are attracted to sound, but I found that just to prevent oneself from being surrounded by these things, shooting a gun was probably your only chance of surviving. Meaning it'd only be a matter of time before I'd have to use it. And I'd have to make the shots count or I'd run out of bullets pretty damn fast.

"Are there any gun shops nearby that you've seen, Khendra?" Cammy asked, noticing what I was looking at.

I shook my head. "I haven't seen any. I guarantee you that they'll be empty even if we did find one, though. Any smart person would've ran straight to a weapons shop the instant they found out what was happening."

Cammy snorted softly, not believing my last sentence at all. I playfully ruffled her hair and she hissed at me, swatting my hands away from her already messy, dirty curls. I stooped down to pick up my bag, swinging it over my shoulder "I'll be right back," I called over my shoulder as I removed my make-shift lock. Cammy's grumbles reached my ears as I softly closed the door and I couldn't help but giggle at her obvious disgruntlement. She may not be living in the most magnificient of conditions, but she was still a cute, innocent little nine-year-old, even if she was seeing things kids her age shouldn't be seeing till they were sixteen.

Checking to make sure that no Biters had entered the shop overnight, I slipped out from behind the door, skirting the fallen shelves and heading towards the freezers behind the counter. Hopping up and swinging my legs over, I ignored the cans and bottles of alcohol that still remained and grabbed the few salvagable bottles of water, eying the four cans of Pepsi before shrugging and grabbing them, too. No time like the present to enjoy pop, which was practically a luxury nowadays.

After stuffing the drinks in my bag, I hopped back over the counter and began picking up cans of food that still littered the floor. My nose scrunched up in disgust when I came across cans of dog food. I lightly kicked them away, watching them roll underneath fallen shelves before I continued to scavenge around for food. It'd be a cold day in Hell before I ever resorted to having Cammy, or myself for that matter, eat dog food because we were low on food. I was disappointed at how little there was, but we were lucky to have this much to last us. Unlike all the other poor idiots that were probably out wandering around in the world without food or water, Cammy and I were living the life.

_"Stop being so selfish, Khendra. Compared to others in the world, you're living like a posh, rich kid. Learn to be thankful for the things that you have in your life rather than complain about what you don't have."_

My hand froze above a can of carrots. My gaze narrowed and my jaw clenched tightly at the memories that suddenly began flooding my mind. If there was one thing that I didn't want to remember, it was having to listen to _that woman _anymore than I already have. Her lessons were nothing less than brutal and harsh. No. More like they were blunt and straight to the point. A no nonsense type of woman.

I snorted. That was an understatement of the century. She didn't take shit from anybody. Not even a mouthy, rebellious brat like myself could get away with anything. I couldn't sneak out of the house. I couldn't drink. I couldn't have anything less than perfect grades. I couldn't like anyone that was below her standards. She was practically raising the perfect clone of herself. And God damn, she very nearly succeeded until all this shit happened.

"I hope you rot in hell, you cruel bitch," I mumbled under my breath before shaking my head to get rid of my dark thoughts. I didn't want them rubbing off on Cammy and resort to her having a bad mood for the rest of the day. I glanced around, pursing my lips at the Biters that lingered outside, oblivious to the easy food that was but a few meters away from them. The sooner we got out of this damn city, the better. My nerves were already going haywire from being here for so long and possible scenarios where anything bad could happen were beginning to plague my mind again. We needed to leave. And soon.

_Boom!_

My eyes widened when a violent tremor shook the Earth, sending the few things that were still upright crashing to the ground as I dropped into a crouch, covering my head with my bag just as some of the shelves above me broke from the wall. I grunted when canned items fell on my back, hissing numerous times when sharp edges dug into my spine before rolling to the floor. I was foreseeing many more bruises on my back within the next day. Lifting my head enough to look around, I hastily shuffled behind the counter as a large group of Biters shuffled past, fixated on something in the distance as they completely ignored the things that continued to fall in the store.

I groaned softly, clapping my hands over my ears when they began to ring painfully. I leaned back into the counter, keeping the Biters in sight, even though my vision was complete shit at the moment. Nausea tugged at my stomach and I swallowed harshly when I felt stinging stomach acids begin to rise up my throat, shuddering in revulsion at the feeling. Locking my hands behind my neck, I took slow, measured breaths, counting to twenty in my head before I was well enough to stand up on my own.

Remembering that Cammy was still on the roof, I sprinted towards the door with the bag over my shoulders and taking the steps two at a time until I reached the top. Spotting her instantly underneath a large pipe, I tossed my bag to the ground just as she squirmed out from underneath her hiding spot and tackled me into a hug, squeezing my tightly. I rubbed her back as she shivered into my stomach, tiny sniffles being heard as she used my shirt as her tissue. I was probably going to regret it later, but seeing her moving and basically unharmed was a good enough excuse for me to just ignore the snot that collected on my shirt.

"Did you see what caused that explosion?" I asked her after a few minutes of waiting for her to calm down. She took a shaky breath, sniffling once before rubbing her eyes. Turning away from me, she pointed to something in the distance. A huge cloud of smoke. I could faintly make out the tell-tale signs of fire mixing in with the smoke, as well. "An explosion?"

"It seems like it," Cammy said, nervously wringing her hands together. She looked up at me. "Something must have caused that explosion."

I instantly picked up what she was hinting at. Survivors had to of caused that big of an explosion. There was no doubt about that. It made me question whether or not it was on purpose or if it was on accident, though my thoughts were leaning more towards the latter. Why would survivors give up a possibly secure place like that? It didn't make sense, but the explosion wasn't really what I was worrying about.

I carefully peered over the edge of the roof and instantly reared back at the Biters that were still going by. It didn't escape my notice how a few were even walking _into _the city and following after the ones that were aiming towards the other side of Atlanta. The problem here was that that explosion was loud enough to draw out every damn Biter in and perhaps a bit outside the city.

"I don't think those surviviors will get very far, Cammy," I said slowly, watching her eyebrows furrow. It pained me to see the hope that was beginning to slowly burn in her eyes again. I knew how deprived of human contact she was and I was forced to remind myself that Cammy wasn't me. That she couldn't go long without human contact like I could. "They'll have to be extrememly lucky to get out of the city before those Biters catch up with them. And that's only if humans are the actual cause of that explosion."

"But they have to be!" Cammy protested, lowering her voice when I sent her a sharp look. She motioned towards the smoke cloud. "Biters are too stupid to blow something up." Her face turned thoughtful. "Though I can see them killing themselves by stumbling upon a bunch of grenades, but I highly doubt that there were any grenades merely lying around. Humans, though..." A wide grin spread across her lips. "Humans are good at purposefully blowing things up! That explosion _must _have been caused by survivors!"

I had to resist a smile at her thought process. There were a bunch of loopholes in her statement alone and while I desperately wanted to point them out to her, I knew she wouldn't appreciate it and that it would only put her in a bad mood. And I didn't want to destroy the hope that I knew she was desperately clinging onto that there were people still alive nearby. But I already knew what it was that Cammy wanted to do and while I knew it would piss her off to be told so, her request would have to be denied for both of our safety.

"Your logic astounds me, Cammy," I said dryly, the corners of my lips curling when she glared-_pouted_-at me. I pulled her down to the ground with me, handing her the bag, which she instantly opened to go through what it was that I had found. She gave a happy cry at the cans of Pepsi, staring at them like they were candy. "Those are for later," I warned her, seeing the glint in her eyes. She scowled at me, but reluctantly looked away from the pop and began helping me with putting the things that littered the roof back in my bag.

My eyes caught the way her gaze kept going back towards the area where the explosion had come from and I had to repress a sigh. I also didn't miss the way she would throw little pleading glances at me, which I ignored to the best of my ability. Cammy knew that I couldn't resist her puppy eyes and it only made it harder for me to ignore her stares as guilt gnawed at my stomach when she would look away dejectedly.

_She's just messing with you, Khendra, _I told myself firmly, turning my head away from Cammy when she made to look at me again. _Don't give her what she wants. _

I made the mistake of looking over at her and cringed when I was met with her wide eyes staring at me innocently. _Looks like I'm giving her what she wants anyway. _I turned away again, zipping up the bag, cracking my back loudly before slinging my bag onto my shoulders.

_Wait for it..._

"Khendra?"

_And there it is..._

"Yes?" Please don't ask, please don't ask me, please don't ask-

"Can we go take a look?" _God damn it..._

I shook my head, making my way towards the door without answering her. I heard her spluttering, her footsteps running against the roof before she skidded to a halt in front of me, eyes desperate. "Why not?" She demanded. I arched an eyebrow at her tone, crossing my arms in an intimidating manner. Realizing her mistake, she apologized quickly and asked again in a more polite tone, knowing that I wasn't going to say anything until she lost her attitude.

Satisfied, I held up three fingers. "Three reasons. One," I held up one finger, "we don't even know if these people aren't going to shoot us on contact. We could be mistaken for Biters and they could react defensively. Or they could be one of the bad groups that we had encountered once before." I ignored the way Cammy flinched at the reminder and held up my second finger. "Two, I can assure you that that area is going to be Biter infested by the time we even get there. It's too dangerous. We'd be walking in blind, not knowing whether those people even _lived._ We can't risk it." I held up my third finger. "And three, what are we even going to do if we _do _go over there, _miraculously get past all those Biters, _and somehow manage to find survivors? People are scared, Cammy. They aren't going to be too fond of suddenly coming into contact with people they've never met before."

"But that won't matter if they're with a group!"

I shook my head at her again. "Regardless if they have a group or not, those survivors won't be fond of seeing us. We're strangers to them. They don't know anything about us. We know that we're harmless, but _do they_?"

I would be lying if I said that I hadn't gone over all the possible scenarios of finding more survivors in my head before. And let me tell you, the things I've imagined are not the prettiest. I'd only ever encountered one group since the start of the outbreak and they weren't the most pleasant people. And they certainly hadn't left a positive note behind when Cammy and I managed to get away from them. The thought of finding more people had me excited, but at the same time, I absolutely loathed the idea for fear that they would be like the last group. The two of us had barely gotten away and that was only cause we got lucky that a herd of Biters had shown up out of nowhere and began terroizing the camp. I didn't want to put Cammy in any more danger than I already had.

"But," I knew that Cammy was merely grasping at loose ends by now, and I knew that she did, too, and I let her wear her excuses thin, "what if they need help? What if they have children?"

The idea of Biters getting ahold of children had my thoughts coming to a screeching halt and an unpleasant shiver raced up my spine. Images of Cammy turning into one of those things filled my head and I had to forcefully shove them away before my thoughts decided to become too wild. I had only ever encounted one child Biter and it was perhaps the most tramatizing experience I've ever had to live through as I pulled a gun to his head and was forced to put him down.

"There's still the challenge of getting there, Cammy," I told her, reaching around her to open the door. She stepped to the side, watching me open the door with sad eyes. It killed me having to deny Cammy the one thing that she really wanted, but the risks were too high and I didn't want to give her false hopes that those people actually survived. "We don't have the ammo to waste getting over there and once we're out, we're out. That's the end of it." I gave her a pointed look, one which she shrunk under. "You can barely fight. You know the basics, but that's it. You aren't experienced enough to take on large groups of Biters. I can barely handle taking on five of them. If that doesn't say how low our chances are of succeeding, than I don't know what will."

Cammy stared into my eyes for a moment longer before she lowered her head in defeat and nodded her head. I wrapped an around her head and pulled her to my chest, whispering a quiet apology before she pulled away and waited for me to descend the staircase before following after me. I gave her a backwards glance, cringing at the broken look on her face before she noticed my staring and tried to smile at me. We both knew how fake the smile really was. Reaching the bottom, I only had to look up before a strangled curse left my lips and shoved a surprised Cammy behind the counter, thankful that she didn't make any unnecessary noises at my rough handling as I crouched before her.

My eyes traced the three Biters that had trailed into the store, their backs thankfully turned when we had come down from the roof. Cammy stared heavily at me, lips parted slightly as she breathed though her mouth quietly. I slipped my fingers towards my pant's pocket, feeling the grateful weight of my daggers inside. I didn't doubt my ability to kill these three. It wasn't going to be easy, but at the same time it wasn't going to be hard because they weren't paying attention and would be easier to deal with since they wouldn't be expecting me. However, I was reluctant in giving away our location and alerting any other Biters that were nearby that we were here as I killed them. It embarrassed me to admit it, but I was far from the silent assassin that I was trying to be.

For some reason, my heart began to pick up speed, adrenaline coursing through my body as my legs shook under my weight. I licked my lips, blinking rapidly and wiping away the sweat that had suddenly gathered on my forehead with the back of my hand. I was about to toss a dagger into the nearest Biter, a man wearing a business suit, when Cammy suddenly began tugging on my arm urgently, beckoning at something. A door. A back door to be exact.

Seeing that the Biters weren't coming anywhere near us, I quickly crawled over to the door, grasping the doorknob and turning it. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when the door opened outwards smoothly, not a squeak being heard. Waving at Cammy, she mimicked the way I had crawled over here in a less than graceful, but thankfully quiet way, and slipped outside with me right behind her, shutting the door softly behind her. I heard her sigh heavily and turned towards her, seeing the tension that had been in her body begin to bleed out when the alley we had walked into was Biter free.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." She nodded, grasping the hand that I offered her and following after me as I led her down a different route that would hopefully take us out of the city.

It turns out that the only way out of Atlanta was that road that was originally owned by the Biters. I blew out a frustrated breath, hitting my head against a brick wall. Sweat coated my entire body like a second skin as the Georgia sun bore down on us and I was quickly becoming disgusted with the feeling of my clothes sticking to me. I'd give anything for a shower right now. Cammy was waving her hand in front of her face, breathing heavily as she tried to get some relief. I handed her one of the bottles of water, watching as she eagerly snapped the seal. "Drink sparingly," I warned her. She gazed up at me. "That has to last us for awhile. Or at least until we find more. Don't make yourself sick because you drank too fast."

While she took tiny bird sips from the water at my request, though I could see how she craved to just dump the lukewarm water all over her head and bask in the short relief that the action would give her, I ventured a short distance away from her, leaving my bag by her side as I walked around the corner to look around.

The area was pretty much deserted and not a single Biter was in sight, which was a very reassuring thought. The amount of blood that was smeared across the walls and coating the ground had my stomach turning and I wrinkled my nose at the smell. The old smell of dried blood never failed to make my stomach churn. Something about the smell of dried up iron and water never really sat well with me. I took notice of how the sun wasn't as high up in the sky as it was some time ago and couldn't help the curse that escaped my lips. We had spent practically the entire day trying to get out of here and all we were doing was running around in circles. It irritated me that we were forced to stay one extra night in this damn city before we could backtrack towards the main road, but it was better than traveling around with Cammy at night where anything could sneak up on us.

Spotting a sturdy enough looking brick building that still had the doors intact, I snatched Cammy from her reclining position, making sure that she had grabbed my bag in the process, and leading her across the courtyard. Lightly pushing against the door, I was surprised to see not the inside of a building, but rather another courtyard. Giving Cammy a curious look, one which she returned, I jumped down from the edge, helping Cammy down since my bag was weighing her down and would make her landing louder than it should be.

We had only taken a few steps when growling reached us. We both stopped in our tracks instantly, listening intently. Cracking sounds could be heard and the sound of something being torn apart reached my ears, followed by more muffled growls. Cammy's face turned green and she swallowed thickly before grasping my arm in a death grip as we plastered ourselves to the brick wall, edging closer to the corner before I chanced a look around the corner, instantly pulling back for fear that I would be sick right then and there.

Biters. Quite a few of them. And they were feeding by the looks of it, too. I placed a hand over my mouth in a feeble attempt to cover my nose from the vile scent that permeated the air. The scent of decaying corpses, freshly spilled blood, and the scent of death that seemed to cling to the Biters like a second skin. It was a horrid combination. Cammy gave my pale face a terrified look.

She began mouthing to me, lips shaking as she spoke. "Are they...?" She made a face, turning greener and greener by the second. I nodded my head shakily. Cammy made a silent gagging motion, holding her stomach as she leaned over. I rubbed her back, looking around for a way around the Biters. Seeing an open door nearby, I decided to take a blind leap. Pointing it out to Cammy after she managed to contain herself, she gaped at me when I mouthed to her that we were going to sneak over there as quietly as we could without alerting the Biters that we were passing through.

"What if they see us?!" She mouthed in horror, eyes darting towards the area where she knew the Biters were enjoying their dinner.

"They shouldn't even notice us. They seem to be pretty occupied at the moment." Cammy gave me a disbelieving look, but followed me when I tip-toed out from around the corner and edged my way towards the door. My gag reflexives kicked in at that moment when the full smell hit me and I bit my lip to contain the bile that once again rose up my throat. Cammy's eyes were glued to the Biters, who remained oblivious to our presence. There was one scary moment where we both ducked behind a dumpster when a female Biter suddenly pulled her head away from the body before her, cloudy eyes staring ahead of her before she engorged herself once more on the body. I could practically hear Cammy's heartbeat in my ears as she contained her heavy breaths to the best of her ability and I wasn't doing any better, my entire body shaking with fear as I peeked from behind the dumpster to check that it was safe before we hurried towards the door. I only breathed steadily when I slipped through the door with Cammy right behind me.

_That's enough excitement for one day..._

"Come on," I mumbled. "Let's see if we can find a secure area where we can chill for the night."

Cammy looked back at the wide open door. "You don't think they'll come in here, do you?"

I glanced around the dark area warily, my mouth going dry when not even the sun could reach the deepest parts of this place. There didn't seem to be any Biters in here, but I didn't let my hand stray away from the dagger in my pocket. "They shouldn't, but we'll barricade the doors and windows when we find a place to sleep, okay?" Cammy nodded slowly, pulling her gaze away from the door as she followed me deeper into the compound.

We ventured further inwards, being careful to avoid stepping on the shards of car parts that littered the floor before we came across a sign that was hanging off its hinges. I tilted my head to the side, trying to read the words that were already fading away.

"We're in a nursing home?" Cammy asked curiously, reading the sign quicker than me.

"It seems like it," I murmured, looking around. That just made this place even more creepier. Sleeping in a nursing home was worse than sleeping in an abandoned house. "Stay close to me. We don't know what could be in here." I pushed open a set of double doors with Cammy's help, stumbling a bit inside when the doors just swung right open.

It wasn't until we stepped into the next room that my stomach finally lost what little control it had left and I was left a vomiting mess against the wall as Cammy gagged nearby, eyes widening in horror at what was presented to us. Bodies. Dead bodies. _Everywhere. _All with open eyes that portrayed what I assumed to be fear in their last few moments of life. The large circular table in the middle of the room was overturned and papers littered the floor everywhere, mixing in with the glass that hid deceptively underneath the papers. I didn't have to even think about who it was that could've done this as I coughed against the wall.

"What _happened _here?" Cammy whispered in horror, hands pressed over her mouth as she stared fearfully at the bodies. I was reassured when I saw that all of the bodies had bullet holes in their heads and that they wouldn't be reanimating into a Biter, though I was still struck dumb at the massacre that lay before us. I almost made myself sick again when I registered the thought that had just crossed my mind. Since when had I become so relieved at the sight of a dead body? My eyes landed on a kind looking old lady whose mouth was wide open mid-scream and I had to look away as my gut began rolling with nausea. This was horrible. Carnage.

"It looks like they were attacked," I stuttered, wiping my mouth. I crouched down beside a body, wrapping my fingers around a man's wrist. It was still slightly warm. "And it seems like we got lucky. This couldn't have happened no more than a couple hours ago."

"I didn't hear any gunshots, though," Cammy stated quietly, hovering close to me as she tried not to look around. I shook my head.

"I didn't either, but we weren't anywhere near this area when all this happened. This couldn't have happened no more than mid-late noon at best." I indicated the bodies. "Their skin's still warm to the touch. They haven't been dead long." Cammy whimpered, burying her face into my shoulder as I stood, standing up on her tiptoes so she could reach me as I pulled her away from the dead, ushering her across the room and up a set of stairs. We both ignored the doors that were wide open, only peering in briefly before moving on quickly when we saw more dead bodies inside. There was one room that I had noticed was a prayer room and the body of a dead man, whom I presumed to be the preacher here, was sprawled across the floor with still wet blood dripping down the wall. Cammy could only watch as I made a cross across my chest before bringing my hand up to my face with my palm facing the opposing wall, closing my eyes for a few seconds, and then moving on as if we had seen nothing.

I wasn't much of a religion-type of person. My family never really went to church and they only believed in what they wanted to believe in. While I did follow the first half of that philosophy, I still had half of my mind dedicated to respecting and following whatever rules God had given to us humans in the early times. I did believe in higher ups, but at the same time, I wouldn't be a full supporter unless I witnessed one for myself, which I highly doubt would ever happen. Though I was beginning to believe it more. The fact that the dead were now walking the Earth was definitely enough to make me rethink my thoughts on religion.

We finally found an empty room, throwing what little we had into a corner and proceeding to barricade the door with the bookshelf and the chair that were in the room. Once we were sure that the door was blocked off enough, Cammy went back to my bag to dig out our dinner while I stayed near the door, twisting and turning a few things before I was satisfied.

"Where's the can opener, Khendra?"

"In the very front pocket," I replied distractedly, giving our pitiful barricade another once over. The sounds of abused metal reached my ears and a humorless smile was on my face as I watched Cammy struggle with the can opener. She scowled down at the can, glaring at my hands when I tried to take it away from her to help her before she scooted away, determined to do it herself. She eventually got the can open some ten minutes later and I bit my lip to keep myself from telling her that she had been using the wrong side of the can opener the entire time.

I let her distribute the food into two bowls from my bag, giving her a dangerous look when I saw how she gave me more than was necessary. She smiled at me, munching at the peaches in her hands and humming in delight at the sweet taste. Shaking my head at her, I followed her lead, slowly shoveling the food into my mouth and letting my mood gradually become better as I savored the sweetness that was peaches.

It wasn't a fancy ass dinner, and neither was it very satisfying, but it was enough for both of us. Cammy and I had never really eaten much to begin with. Even before all this nonsense started, we never ate more than what we wanted at the time. It was mainly why our food was lasting us this long. We knew how to make it last, unlike some of the other survivors, whom I knew struggled to find enough to food to give them the energy that they desperately needed to survive. If I had my way, though, I would've gladly given away some cans to those that needed it more than us. Cammy would happily comply with my wishes as well, the need to help others always her first instinct.

It wasn't until the room began to steadily get darker and darker did I realize that the sun was finally setting and that the tall Atlanta buildings were going to be blocking what little sunlight was left soon. Peering through the boarded up window on the other side of the room, I was instantly blinded by what little part of the sun was still visible over the top of a building and pulled back, rubbing my eyes. Seeming to read my mind, Cammy handed me my bag and watched as I pulled out a small candle from my bag and a match stick, scraping the match against the ground and holding the new flame above the candle, filling the room with a sweet scent and a warm light that had Cammy leaning into my side when I leaned against the wall, sighing tiredly as she did so. I waited for her to finish her shuffling around before crossing my legs, tangling my fingers in her hair as she rested her head across my lap.

"It's cold in here," She said suddenly, a shiver following soon after. Shrugging off my sweatshirt, I wrapped it over her, tucking the sleeves around her neck to keep it in place. She turned her head to look up at my, tired brown eyes staring at me worriedly. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine," I insisted firmly, gently putting her head back down in its previous position. "Try to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us and we need to get up early to get a head start."

"Are you ever going to sleep tonight, Khendra?" She asked, yawning. "When was the last time you even slept?"

_Almost three days ago. _"I'll sleep eventually. Don't worry about me. Just sleep."

I found it endearing how Cammy was so worried about my health. Normally, it would be myself worrying about whether or not she was getting enough sleep, but now, it was like our roles were slowly being reversed. It didn't escape my notice how Cammy was trying to integrate herself in a more useful way ever since we had arrived in Atlanta. It wasn't big things. I flat-out refused to take her on raids with me into the deeper parts of the city whenever we ran out of something. Rather that it was the little things that she would do for me that I greatly appreciated. Carrying my bag. Taking stock of our supplies. Being a lookout every now and then whenever I had my back turned. Pointing out safer escape ways than the current one.

_"She's a genius. Tactical, resourceful, and reliable. People flock to her by the dozens and are curious about her. She's useful. Very useful." _

_You got something right, you old bat, _I thought, watching Cammy slowly doze off, her eyes fluttering closed. It was a surprise to everybody when _that woman _had named me her successor. Everyone had been expecting Cammy. Sweet, smart, loyal Cammy. But no. Instead, they got me. Disrespectful, crude, violent me. I questioned _that_ _woman's_ decision for the longest of times and it wasn't until later that I realized she had only picked me because of my age. Cammy had only been six when _that woman _had made the decision of me being her heir. I was at the ripe age of twenty-three. Still in college and still learning, while Cammy was only just beginning her schooling. It was only logical to pick the oldest over the youngest, even if said oldest wasn't what you would want as an heir.

I tiredly rubbed at my eyes, hitting my head against the wall, groaning as my mind buzzed sluggishly. God did I want to sleep. So, so bad. The thought of sleep was beyond tempting at this point and, glancing at the barricade and boarded window once more, I decided that maybe trying to catch a few hours of sleep would benefit me more so than it would for me to pull another all-nighter. I'd probably be in better condition if I did sleep, anyway. And it would ease Cammy's concern over my health if I told her that I had managed to get some sleep. I found that I could never lie to the girl. She always seemed to know when I was lying and it was the same vice versa.

Deciding to give in to my body's desire, I was close to passing out entirely when Cammy suddenly stiffened and sat up, looking around. I blinked my eyes open, twitching. "Wha's wrong?" I slurred, looking around the room. The candle in front of us was still burning brightly, though the wax inside was distinguishly fuller than it was the last time I looked at it. No more than an hour could've passed since I dozed off.

"I thought I heard something..." That instantly woke me up. I sat up straighter, pulling out a dagger and sitting still with my weapon by my side, ears straining to pick up anything. At first, I didn't hear anything and I was about to tell Cammy that it was merely a false alarm, saying that she had probably just been imagining things, when I heard it. Shots. Gunshots to be exact. My heart jumped into my throat.

There were people inside the building. People with guns. And they were possibly shooting at something downstairs.

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**I like this chapter. I don't know why, but I do. So that's the second chapter. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Ignore the ending. I know it was rushed. My own impatience got the best of me...**

**Thank you for reading! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry that the last chapter was somewhat rushed! I got irritated with my own suspension and just rushed right through it.** **Please enjoy this new chapter!**

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I don't think I've ever cursed as violently as I had right now. Words I didn't even know I knew flew from my lips in a flurry as I grabbed one of the cartridges from my bag and began reloading one of the pistols, fingers trembling as I struggled to get the bullets in. Cammy gaped at me in astonishment, a red blush dusting her cheeks as I continued to curse violently. I was going to regret saying these things later, but my mind was more occupied with the fact that there were people in the building, that they could potentially be dangerous, and that they were shooting at something downstairs. _  
_

"You stay here." Cammy immediately began to protest, but stopped when another gunshot rang out. Her mouth snapped shut, eyes gazing fearfully at the door. I knew that the pitiful barricade we had set up wasn't going to do shit in keeping out these people, so I did a quick search of the room, spotting a closet and proceeding to throw Cammy inside, carelessly tossing the pistol into her lap as I backtracked. An infuriated snarl escaped her lips as I closed the doors, placing a chair in front of it to keep it blocked.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry!" I cried hastily, securing the back of the chair more firmly. "I'm trusting you not to shoot yourself, alright? If anything comes in here, point the gun at their head, make sure your hand is steady, and pull the trigger. Only use it as a last resort, though." It was a shitty explanation, but I knew Cammy would figure it out easily enough.

"Are you kidding me?!" Cammy's voice squeaked from within the closet. "You can't just throw a gun at me and expect me to just shoot at anything while you go gallivanting off on your own! Let me come with you!"

"Absolutely not," I denied sharply. "You're staying here until I get back. I can handle whoever's in here quicker if I were by myself."

Cammy's pissed grumbles reached my ears and she kicked the door angrily in a sudden burst of anger. I could only imagine the way she would be crossing her arms and how she would glare furiously at the door, imagining that it were me. Good thing that her intimidation factors have little to no effect on me.

"Stay hidden and don't make a sound. I'll be back as soon as possible." I turned away from the door, eyes catching the top of the cabinet and heading towards it.

Cammy's voice stopped me. "You'll come back for me...right? You won't forget about me?" I came to a halt, gaze softening against my wishes as Cammy's words registered.

The very thought of Cammy doubting my ability to make it back alive hurt, but at the same time, it made a lot of sense. Dad had promised the same thing and we had yet to hear from him. I knew Cammy still clung onto the hope that he was still alive, but I had a feeling that she was just denying the inevitable instead of moving on like she should and just accepting that he was dead. I had and I was in a good place emotionally. Mentally, probably not, but it was better than me crying my eyes out in the middle of a raid or something.

"Khendra?" I snapped back to attention when I realized that I hadn't even replied back to her. I slowly walked back and placed a hand on the dirty, but sturdy, door. It wasn't much and I knew Cammy wouldn't be satisfied, but the least I could do was verbally promise her that I wouldn't die on her.

"I promise to come back. I won't leave you alone." I could feel the relief and gratitude that pulsed off of Cammy in waves and I heard her moving around in the closet, seeing her shadow edging away from the door and leaning herself back into the wall as if it would swallow her up.

Pleased that she was in a safe enough position, I hurried towards the cabinet and began climbing it. Upon my earlier inspection of the room, I had seen the vent in the corner of the room and I was pretty confident that I could fit into the ventilation system. I was pretty small for someone my age and my height would make getting inside that much easier. Unlatching the screws to the latch, I quietly sat it down to the ground, cast a fleeting glance towards the closet that Cammy was in before heaving myself up, my legs flailing underneath me as I struggled to pull myself up. I kind of wished I had worked out more cause this was not easy and I knew I wasn't heavy, but my muscles were definitely screaming a different tune when I finally got myself up.

You can tell that even before the apocalypse began, the workers here in this nursing home didn't really care about cleaning the ventilation system. The entire thing was layered upon layered with dust and I almost whimpered when I saw the tell-tale signs of rats having lived in here at one point. My mind blanched at the thought of moving through an area where rats ate and shit in, but I forced my discomfort aside to begin crawling forward. I was pleased to see that I fit almost perfecly in the hatch. It saved me the effort of hitting my head against the top of the hatch and giving away my location to whoever it was that was inside the building. Though my claustrophobia of tightly enclosed spaces like this one was making it difficult for me to keep my focus straight ahead of me, I swallowed the lump that had somehow taken up residence in my throat as I pushed forward, realizing that the gunshots had stopped and that everything was silent once more.

Many twists and turns later, I sighed before sneezing quietly, cursing. Damn dust. Damn me for being allergic to everything dust-related. Seeing another opening, I crawled over and peered down through the hatch, squinting through the darkness and looking into what I assumed to be the room that had held all the dead elderly people. Seeing nothing, I had just gotten to the middle of the hatch when voices reached my ears. I froze in place, slowly inching backwards before looking back down again, this time looking for movement.

Black shadows danced across the corners of the hatch and I was irritated to find out that I couldn't make out how many there were. My fingers pulled free one of my small, throwing daggers from its sheath on my hips as one shadow broke off from the supposed group, footsteps heavy upon the ground as they stopped before the old man that I had checked earlier and crouched beside him.

"This is horrible," A female voice whispered behind the man. I could only see the top of her brunette head, but she turned her head this way and that, wary. As well as she should be. You never know when a Biter would come out of nowhere and sneak up behind you for a quick bite. You also could never know when someone was watching you. Like, say, myself for example.

_"Humans are such stupid creatures. They are wary of everything on the ground around them, but they never seem to remember that danger also lurks in the sky. You'd think that after all the air assaults we've suffered from in past wars, people would look up more often. That isn't the case, however. Everyone believes that looking up isn't of importance. One of these days, they'll all be proven wrong when they are killed from being attacked from above."_

It was almost habit for me to look up. It wasn't a hard habit to develop and once it was started, it was hard to get rid of. And I'll tell you, looking up had saved mine and Cammy's ass on many occasions. I frowned when I realized that I was actually contemplating killing these people. Don't get me wrong, I had killed survivors at one point in time when this shit started up, but I had never ever killed someone in cold blood that hadn't threatened me or Cammy in any way, shape, or form. And now that I thought about it more, the idea of killing these people made me sick. I slipped my dagger back into the empty sheath at my hip without a second thought.

_You've gone soft, Khendra, _my mind scoffed at me mockingly. I ignored the little voice in my head, my fingers twitching against the steel vent as I watched more humans begin to amble around the room thanks to the helpful light from a flare that someone had lit, examining the papers on the floor and the many bodies that were spread out around the room. The woman with brunette hair crouched before the elderly lady with the wide open mouth, hands gently closing her mouth and her eyes before standing. My heart melted at the action. It looked like the old woman was merely sleeping instead of looking like she had just been shot in the head from point blank range. The brunette returned to the man who was still on the ground, placing a hand on his back in what I assumed to be a comforting way.

I wondered if they were married or something. That certainly looked like an affectionate touch, but I wasn't too sure. I couldn't see the woman's eyes. I could always tell what a person was thinking when looking at their eyes.

The man slowly got back to his feet after examining the body, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. Just from the action alone, I could see that the man was weary and old beyond his years. An old soul in a young body. Except with this man, I knew that he wasn't even that old. Probably early-mid thirties if my guessing skills haven't gone rusty yet. A large Sheriff hat covered his head and face from my view as he got to his feet, turning towards the group. Another man appeared in my line of vision and my eyes instantly latched curiously onto his head of black, curly hair. I wasn't sure why, but I'd always been fascinated by people with black hair. Maybe it was because where I had once lived, blond and brown hair was common and black hair was just a word that we all knew, but I wasn't too sure. I just knew that the hair color always managed to catch my attention.

And now's definitely not the time to get curious. I mentally slapped myself at the distraction, narrowing my eyes at the man with the Sheriff hat as he stood below me. "Upstair's our best bet," He said to the woman beside him. Another woman with blond hair and a black guy edged closer to him, both glancing around at the carnage with barely concealed disgust and sadness. "We've cleared a few rooms an' can barricade them if we have to."

_They've already been upstairs?! _Was the first thing that popped into my head. How could they have possibly gotten up there and back down in the short amount of time that I had been in here? Cammy appeared in my mind and I was instantly seized with the urge to turn back and go check on her. I shook my head. No, she can take care of herself. She wasn't totally defenseless. She carried the knife that I first gave her when we got to Atlanta, plus the pistol before I had left her, and I knew that she never kept it out of arm's reach. She was safe. _For now, at least, _my mind retorted snarkily.

"We'll be alright," Sheriff guy insisted to the blond woman when I saw how she had given him in a disbelieving look. "I promise."

"Do you mean it this time," another female voice questioned from the corner of the room where I couldn't see. I found that I didn't like the way how accusing her voice sounded. It was like she was just _trying _to force the blame on his shoulders, "or are you lying to us like all the times before?"

"That's unfair," interjected the brunette instantly with a sharp tone in her voice. I instantly liked her attitude, "and no help at all." Curly-haired guy turned to stare at her as she spoke, but quickly looked away before she noticed. I arched an eyebrow. How curious...

_There's more to this group than meets the eye. Especially that brunette and black-haired guy. _A sarcastic smile pulled at my lips. I was foreseeing a series of cheating and love-triangles going on here. It's like one big, God awful soap opera. I had to keep myself from laughing at that. For some odd reason, I'd always found those people that always hesitated between two guys hilarious to watch. Tensions always ran high in situations like that and it was always a laughing matter to me when things really got serious between the two guys. There was definitely tension going on here between the curly-haired guy and the brunette, but for some odd reason, the sheriff guy didn't even seem to notice it. Or he was just choosing to ignore it. For his sake, I certainly hoped he wasn't ignoring it. That would only encourage the other party in laying a claim on what couldn't ever be his. And if I stuck around long enough, I'd probably be able to witness just how the two men will react.

_Not that I'm sticking around, anyway, _I told myself firmly. These people carried a heavy arsenal of weapons and I wasn't going to be taking any chances. I blinked and slumped my head into my hands. God, I was contradicting everything left and right today. Indecisive, much? I think yes.

A commotion from the other side of the room caught my attention and angry hisses reached my ears. Blinking curiously, I leaned more into the opening, trying to see. A tall figure stomped into sight, a writhing figure in his grasp. Hisses escaped its mouth and its arms flailed wildly. Two things passed through my head at that moment. One: was that a Biter? Two: if it was a Biter, what the _hell _was that dumbass doing with one of those things in his grasp like that?!

I almost sweatdropped. _Are these people stupid or something? _Both of my thoughts were immediately shot down when another, very _familiar__, _voice began speaking.

"Let go of me, you jerk!"

I'm pretty sure my mouth just hit the ground because of how heavily I was gaping. My heart stuttered for a second, shock coursing through me. The next second, it began to beat painfully fast in my chest. My breath quickly grew shallower and I bit my lip to keep any noises from escaping my lips. Fear and anxiety ruled my mind as I realized just who it was that was being dragged across the room towards the group.

_Cammy. _

"What the hell are you doing, Dixon?" The blond asked in an accusing tone.

_Yes! What exactly _are _you doing?!_ My mind screamed furiously. My nails dug into my palms instead of the surface beneath me. A warm wetness began to swell in my palm and slip slowly through my fingers from the blunt tips of my nails. I didn't have to look down to know that my nails had pierced right through the skin as if it were butter.

They had found Cammy. _They had found Cammy from her hiding place in our room. _I almost wanted to be sick again. Paranoia began to set in, my entire body shivering fearfully as the man whom the blond called Dixon proceeded to drag Cammy by her arm. Any other time, I would've been pulsating with anger. I hated it when people touched Cammy in a harmful way. I'd be in denial if I told myself that he wasn't hurting her. I knew that she'd have bruises on her upper arms once he decided to release her. I had half a mind to just nail a dagger straight through his stupid head, but my worry of putting Cammy in any more danger than she already was prevented me from doing anything rash. I could only watch helplessly as she was shoved towards the man with the Sheriff hat.

"Found the brat in one of the rooms upstairs," Dixon growled in answer to the blond's question. His voice was deep, almost raspy, but held a southern accent. A Georgian southern accent. "Tryin' to get past the table that was blocking the door and creatin' a hell of a lot of ruckus."

Oh for the love of God. I almost wanted to pull my hair right out of its roots. _Cammy was trying to get out of the damn room?! _My lips twisted into a scowl. If she ever escaped and I managed to find her again, I was going to_ kill her_.

"You found her upstairs?" The brunette asked in surprise, looking at Cammy from beside the sheriff. Cammy fidgeted uncomfortably at her stare, keeping her eyes trained on the ground. Her hands twisted into her shirt, burying them in the black fabric. I sighed. She was playing the shy card, hoping her cute looks would keep these people distracted enough to let her make a quick getaway. "Why is a kid even—"

"I'm not a kid!" Cammy snapped suddenly at the woman, dropping her act and raising her head to glare at the woman. "I can take care of myself!"

_Now's really not the time to play the brave card, Cammy, _I thought, successfully managing to calm myself down a little. Apart from the man-handling, she didn't seem to be seriously hurt and that was enough to keep me from taking too much action. I knew Cammy hated being told that she wasn't able to fend for herself. It had always irritated her when I was allowed to do things that she wasn't just because she wasn't old enough. She always made a point to do things she shouldn't be doing regardless of what others say just to prove a point. She always landed in a shit load of trouble afterwards when she was caught, however. The fact that people she didn't even know were unconsciously belittling her obviously set her off and a fierce look burned in her eyes as she glared at the brunette, trying to be intimidating, but failing spectacularly.

"What are you doing here, little girl?" Sheriff asked, kneeling before her. It didn't escape my notice how he kept a few feet of distance between them and how he kept his hand near the gun that rested in his thigh holster. I almost snorted. It's almost funny how he actually thought Cammy was a real threat to them. She was a good four feet shorter than all of them, was as scrawny as a twig, and wasn't carrying any visible weapons. Though, now that I thought about it, Cammy wasn't really much of a problem even if she tried. She wasn't properly trained, she didn't have any muscle on her, and she didn't know how the use her own body's advantages against an opponent. _She wasn't a threat and this man was thinking that she actually was dangerous._ I suddenly hoped that Cammy had had the sense to hide her knife and the gun in a secretive place somewhere on her body before she was captured. She could get lucky if she just wildly swung her knife around. It would be even luckier if she fired off a shot from the pistol and managed to wound one of them, too.

Cammy's enraged eyes softened immediately as she looked away from the brunette, attention successfully captured by the officer who looked at her with gentle and reassuring eyes. "I was hiding," She said simply, staring straight into his eyes confidently with a disarming smile on her face.

"From?" I rolled my eyes. He thought she was actually ignorant about what was going on outside? You'd have to be the biggest idiot alive to not realize that the dead were walking and eating anything with a beating heart like it was candy. I don't know how you just _couldn't _notice. It's common sense. I paused. Then again, there wasn't very much common sense left to begin with before this even happened, so I guess I shouldn't make fun of him for asking.

She tilted her head to the side. "From the Biters outside. They were creating a lot of noise earlier and I got scared. I thought hiding in one of the rooms upstairs would keep them from finding me."

He hid his surprise very well at the smart reply Cammy had given him. His face only held confusion now. "Biters?"

She nodded her head enthusiastically. "That's what I call them," She chirped, faking innocence. Fate was definitely on my side today. Cammy hadn't given away the fact that she had been traveling with me and was practically saying that she had been on her own since the start of this. Oh, hidden meanings. How you will forever be my best friend.

"Where are your parents?" The brunette questioned, glancing towards the stairs as if expecting more people to come down.

"Dead." I cringed along with the rest of the group at the bluntness of her statement. It wasn't strange to hear a teenager or adult say that if you met one, but to hear a child say that in such a casual and unfeeling way? It wasn't right. "Dad died a while back from Biters, and I don't know what happened to Mom. I can only assume that she died, too."

"That's horrible," Sheriff muttered. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Cammy nodded her head graciously. Another voice entered the conversation, then. One that was not entirely welcome, either. "Can we stop questionin' the brat already?!" Dixon butt in suddenly, irritation heavy in his voice as he glared at Sheriff. I was suddenly becoming annoyed with the fact that I couldn't name him by his actual name. It didn't sit right with me, calling this man merely by his last name. It was awkward. "We shouldn't be askin' this brat about her past. We should be figurin' out why the hell she's here by herself!"

"She's a freakin' kid, Daryl," the blond woman said. "What other reason does she need other than that she was escapin' from those things outside?"

Daryl—_thank God, I have a name for him now!_—sneered at her. The flare's red lights flickered across his face, causing frightening shadows to dance across his face and making him look more dangerous and threatening in my eyes. Cammy seemed to agree, as well, cause a whimper soon escaped her lips and she inched away from him. His arm lashed out and a sharp _ping! _filled the room. My eyes widened. A long knife with a curved blade and a black handle was embedded into the ground before the Sheriff's feet. The knife that I had given Cammy. "Does a random brat really go 'round carryin' a knife and gun in her pocket like this one does?" He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out the pistol that I had also given her. He held it up for emphasis. "

I almost hit my head against the vent, exasperation filling my body. Seriously? I know I taught Cammy better. I glared down at Daryl, noting the crossbow that was slung across his back with a bolt already set into place and ready to fire at a second's notice. This guy was the biggest pain in my ass. Large bow knife holders were strapped to his hips and I could just barely see the barrel of a gun in his waistband peeking out from underneath his dirty white shirt. I scowled at the top of his head. This guy was the biggest pain in my ass ever. Sheriff guy was obviously the leader of this little ragtag group, seeing as how the others looked to him for answers, but really, it felt like Daryl was the actual leader. He had taken the initiative to search a harmless-looking little kid and lo and behold, finds a knife on her person. Sheriff hasn't even made one such move to do any of that.

_Hunter, _I realized. _This guy's a _fucking _hunter_. I groaned quietly. I lied. Fate was definitely not on my side today. She was just giving me false hopes, then snatching them away from me, laughing while she did so. Dealing with a police officer was one thing, but a hunter? Those were two _entirely _different things. Daryl was instantly placed at the top of my Dangerous List. Worrying about him doing something harmful to Cammy was definitely more important than watching Sheriff guy trying to coax Cammy into talking.

Sheriff slowly extracted the knife from the ground, twisting it this way and that, examining it thoughtfully. Cammy visibly tensed when his eyes turned back to her, but relaxed slightly when he removed his hat to reveal a mop of curly brown hair to run a hand through it, sighing as he did so. A little boy suddenly appeared into my vision and ran to his side, tentatively grabbing his hand and squeezing it. Sheriff rubbed his head affectionately, a small smile visible on his lips. The boy beamed up at him, happy that his goal had been accomplished.

Wonderful. This guy had a freaking kid. Now I definitely couldn't kill him. Maybe...

"What are we goin' to do with her, Rick?" the brunette asked, eyeing the knife in his hand as if it were a snake. An aversion to weapons? How the _hell _had this woman survived this long? "I'm not comfortable just throwin' her outside, but if she's carryin' weapons on her..."

"We ain't just goin' to just off her, Lori," Sheriff—_Rick_—said firmly, seeming appalled at the very thought of just sending a child to her death. I was thankful for that. I would've massacred the lot of them if they had even thought about throwing Cammy outside to the Biters. Regardless if this guy had family, Cammy was my number one priority and I'd be damned to Hell before anything happened to her. "We can just keep her under lock and key for the night and decide what to do with her in the mornin'."

"You can't be serious?!" Daryl exclaimed angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Cammy. "We don't know her! She could be trickin' us into lowerin' our guard and leadin' us to our death!"

I did the stupid thing then. I had leaned forward over the vent when Daryl had pointed at Cammy, thinking that he was going to attack and accidentally putting too much weight on it. An echoing screech engulfed the room from the vent as my weight made the steel squeal in protest, sending me reeling back in shock and causing me to hit my head against the top of the vent. A hiss of pain escaped my lips and it was a second later did I realize my mistake as I cradled my throbbing head.

_Shit! _

"Up there!"

A loud gunshot was heard and a bullet ricocheted off the steel, bending the already loose screws and allowing them to fall free from their already precarious position attached to the steel. A screech of surprise escaped me when the vent beneath me suddenly fell to the ground, gravity doing what it does best and pulling me down to the ground with it. A second of feeling airborne had my stomach rolling at the sudden fall and the next, I was crashing into one of the tables, tipping it over onto me as I rolled to the floor. I hissed in pain as the table crushed my leg at an uncomfortable angle, flailing frantically when glass dug into my skin. My arm burned something fierce and at the rate my ankle was going, it'd be fractured unless the table was moved.

"Khendra!" Cammy instantly ran to my side, fingers sliding underneath the table and struggling to lift it up with her meager strength. It didn't even budge. She cast me a scared glance, eyes fixated on my leg in panic before she spun around to the group, who all, except for Lori, the blond, and the kid, had guns pointed at us. Rick had pushed Lori and the boy behind him protectively, Lori clutching onto the boy tightly. The blond was staring in surprise at me, looking up towards the vent, back to me, then repeating the process. A grimace was pulling at both Daryl's and the black guy's faces as they both inched unconsciously towards Rick and the black-haired guy, who had a hand resting on Lori's shoulder.

"Please!" Cammy begged, jumping to her feet and taking a few steps towards them. Her response was them merely keeping their weapons trained on her. It didn't even seem to matter to her that they didn't seem to be interested in befriending her anymore. She just looked so focused on getting help for me. "Please help me! She's hurt!"

"You said you were alone," Rick said calmly, eyeing my disheveled appearance critically. I resisted the urge to snarl at the look. I wasn't some damn science experiment that could be gazed at in such a was, but I kept the thought to myself. He'd probably take my reaction negatively and treat me as a threat.

"I said my parents were dead!" Cammy snapped at him impatiently, scowling at him. "I never said I had any living siblings."

I clenched my teeth in pain as the table's edge dug into my skin as I tried shifting out from underneath it. I futilely tried pushing the table back, but one of the legs seemed to be caught on something that I couldn't see. It barely moved an inch away from me before it refused to budge anymore than it already has. Letting out a frustrated cry, I collapsed back onto the ground, arms spread eagle as I stared at Rick upside down with annoyed eyes. A sympathetic look appeared in his eyes as he watched my struggle. He inched forward slowly, the black-haired man mimicking him, and keeping both of their weapons trained on me. The others stayed where they were. I motioned Cammy away when she moved to stand between them, thinking they were going to kill me. She bit her lip, but reluctantly moved aside so they could get by.

"Any weapons?" Rick asked, gun pointed at my head.

I irritably pulled out all of my daggers from their sheaths and threw them at his feet. His companion stooped down to pick them up, handing them off to an Asian-looking guy that was standing nearby. He appeared flustered carrying the weapons, awkwardly holding the weapons at arm's length. "That's all I have on me," I grumbled. "My guns are upstairs. And you better not lose those!" I snapped at the Asian, who jumped at my words.

"T-Dog, Andrea, go upstairs and get them," Rick commanded to the blond and the black guy. Both nodded and hurried upstairs. Rick looked down at me for a few seconds before he grasped the table and easily lifted it up enough for me to slip out. Cammy hooked her arms under my armpits, helping me drag myself backwards before releasing me. She winced at the blood that coated my leg and both arms.

"Do you want me to—"

"Don't even bother," I told her. She frowned at me. I gestured towards Rick and the others sarcastically. "Officer Friendly here obviously isn't going to let us wander off on our own anytime soon, regardless if I'm hurt or not."

Rick fought a smile at my nickname, though why he found it funny, I didn't know. "Why don't you start off and tell us your name before we go any further?"

"Khendra," I said, refusing to give away my surname and offering him my hand from my position on the ground, which he shook with an amused smile. "And you?"

"Rick Grimes." I blinked at the familiar name. A memory of a two men, one tall and muscular, the other also tall, but more lanky, standing side by side and laughing in an office surfaced in my mind. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cammy giving me the same look. She cocked her head at the taller man, scrutinizing him closely before she dared speaking.

"Rick Grimes?" She questioned curiously. Rick gave her a curious look, a silent question in his eyes. "That name sounds familiar. Khendra, didn't our dad know a Rick Grimes?"

I frowned and stared up at Rick, irritated that I would have to give away my last name even when I had initially not intended to. "Do you know Bryson Sanchez?"

Rick's breath hitched and his eyes widened. Lori gave him a concerned look from her current position, confused at his reaction. "You're Bryson's kids?" Rick breathed in surprise. I shuffled uncomfortably at the look of absolute wonderment on Rick's face as he stared at Cammy and I equally.

"If I said yes, what would that mean for us?"

A large grin was Rick's response to my question. "Then I guess I can say that you are welcome to stay with our group."

My mind went blank at that. I was so focused on gaping at Rick that I barely even noticed that certain members of the group were protesting heavily against his offer. Mainly from Lori, Daryl, and the black-haired man that stood behind Rick. Said man moved to stand beside him and I managed to catch a glimpse of a woman with grey-colored hair crouching in the very back of the room with a little girl clinging to her. I noticed an older man standing beside her, strangely wearing a fishing hat, and casting me looks from his position beside the woman. Daryl's protests were probably the loudest and most obvious and it was his voice that drew me away from the old man that was staring at me in a contemplative fashion. "Are you kiddin' me, Rick?!" He hissed at the man, stalking up to him and getting in his face with an angry scowl present. "You can't just keep bringin' in strays like this! We talked about this before! We don't even know these two! Have you listened to nothin' I've been sayin'?!"

"I knew their father, Daryl," Rick said insistently. "He's told me nothin' but good things about them. And he was one of my good friends on the job. I trusted him! I can't just stand by and leave his kids here to rot when I could've done somethin'!"

"How do you know this new environment hasn't changed them, though, Rick?" Lori protested. "You've seen how other survivors have reacted to this new world! These two could be equally affected!"

I was surprised at how vehement she was on not letting us stay with them. She seemed like the type of woman that would buckle at the idea of letting a child run loose in Atlanta with only a somewhat trained adult to look after her. I didn't like that I had seemingly misjudged her character and I scrutinized her carefully, determined not to make the same mistake again.

"You're his wife, right?" Cammy interjected suddenly, voice frigid and a dangerous look on her face as she stared at Lori. She nodded slowly at Cammy's question and a sneer became present on Cammy's face. "Aren't you supposed to be supporting his decisions like the good southern woman that you are?" I tensed as Lori gaped at Cammy and I saw Rick frown at Cammy's words. My arm lashed out and landed harshly against Cammy's head. She gave a cry, shying away from me as she cradled her head, giving me a bewildered look.

"Behave!" I hissed at her. I gave Rick an apologetic look. "Sorry. She can't help it sometimes. She's schizophrenic."

He stared at Cammy's cowering form. "Since when?" He asked, shock clear in his face. It seems like our father hadn't told him everything about his precious little children. I guess I broke his first thoughts on Cammy by telling him that. Whoops.

"Rick," Daryl snarled, gaining the man's attention and quickly dropping the topic. He pointed his crossbow at me and glared down at my face. I returned the look with equal annoyance. _He has blue eyes, _Was my smart thought before he opened his mouth again. "We're not takin' them in."

Rick's spine straightened and he stared Daryl down with a neutral expression on his face. I was fascinated by the instant, aggressive aura that had suddenly surrounded Rick as Daryl challenged him. "Since when did you take up the leadership of this group, Daryl?" He inquired softly, a cold tone present in his voice. Cammy cringed when she saw that she was directly in the center of the two males and crawled towards me, latching onto my arm tightly. I watched the exchange like a scientist would examining the way an animal behaves around others of its species.

Daryl scowled at Rick. "I didn't."

"Then why are you makin' orders?"

"'Cause I'm the only smart bastard here that's got the balls to actually do it the right way!" Was his retort. He snorted at Rick then, spitting on the floor near us. I was half-tempted to throw a sharp piece of glass at him for that one, Cammy staring at the spit spot in disgust from beside me. He gave an exaggerated wave of his free arm, harshly slinging his weapon back across his back as he stalked off towards the stairs. "Whatever, man. Do whatever the hell ya want! But don't say that I didn't tell ya so when they turn on us and leave us for dead after robbin' us blind!" His stomping footsteps could easily be heard even when he disappeared from sight, echoing around the room.

"What a pleasant man," Cammy whispered sarcastically. I sighed, burying my face in my hands tiredly. All I wanted was to just pass out and sleep for a whole week. Was that really just too much to ask? Obviously it was cause I was still awake and listening to Lori argue quietly with Rick. She made many rapid hands movements, the majority of them pointed towards who I assumed to be their son, who stood on the sidelines with the little girl and the grey-haired woman. "Are you okay?" Cammy motioned to the many scratches that littered my arms.

"'M fine," I said, rubbing at my arms and checking to see if I had any stray glass shards stuck in my skin. Trails of blood fell down my arms and legs in equal amounts and pricks of pain flared throughout my body as I tried getting to my feet. I placed my hands on the small of my back, pushing forward while I arched backwards. A satisfying crack had everyone pausing and staring at me in what I assumed to be horror. I sighed at the feeling, relief coursing through my body as the tension in my back finally let up a tiny bit. Andrea and T-Dog finally came back down the stairs, carrying the rest of my guns and the cartridges still filled with bullets. While I didn't like how we were at their mercy now, I knew it was necessary to appease some of the more wary and frightened members. The only one who didn't seem the least bit appeased was the black-haired man, who continued to argue with Rick, nit-picking at every word that came out of his mouth and somehow making up some pathetic excuse to use against him.

_God, does he not have an OFF button somewhere? _

"Why are you still complaining?" Cammy demanded, glaring at him in irritation as another side of her I thought was now long dormant became more and more obvious the more she was around this particular group. "You have all of our weapons, outnumber us 3 to 1, and have that hunter guy upstairs! _Why _are you still _complaining_?" I rubbed Cammy's back soothingly, feeling her tensed muscles relax under my ministrations. I liked how she had also seen the threat that was Daryl. At least she was paying attention during her whole confrontation with him.

A wide yawn escaped me and I found that I had had enough for tonight. "You don't have to stay here if you don't want to," I interrupted Rick from replying back to his supposed friend, giving him a meaningful, "and you don't have to accept us into your group just because you knew our Dad, but it's late and we're all tired and irritated. There are rooms upstairs for all of you to share and while this is no five star hotel, they're secure enough to keep any unwanted visitors out for the night. We can talk about what to do in the morning when everyone's not in a pissy mood, alright?"

Lori gave me a glare at the expletive, which I waved away before leading Cammy upstairs, leaving our weapons with Andrea and T-Dog. I kind of hoped that we would get those back tomorrow. There was no way that we would be able to get out of Atlanta without weapons. Rick seemed like a nice guy and I knew that he would respect whatever it was I decided on. If I wanted to leave, I knew he would let me leave in peace with all of my weapons returned to me before I went anywhere. If I wanted to stay, he would let me stay, regardless of what the others said to him. All of this would just have to wait until morning, though. There wasn't a single sane person awake right now that wasn't lacking proper sleep and it would make talking with them difficult as they would be grouchy and uncooperative. Better to wait until morning before confronting any of them.

"You need to control yourself more," I warned Cammy as we climbed the flight of stairs. She gazed up at me, surprised. "You can't keep loosing your cool like that. One of these days, we'll meet someone who won't tolerate that kind of talk from you, regardless if you're still a kid."

Cammy pursed her lips and scrunched up her shoulders. "I don't mean to," She mumbled, looking both sheepish and thoroughly embarrassed at the same time. "There's just something about those people that make me want to pull all of my hair out and scream and shout at them." She looked back up at me. "There's no harmony among them, Khendra. It's like they're only there just to keep each other alive and for no other reason."

Beautiful. She had just stumbled upon something that I had not wanted to talk about. I had noticed the same exact thing as I watched them all interact from my hiding spot above. "They're all strangers in a violent world," I told her in the most gentle of ways that I could. "They aren't bound by blood and they know that they don't have to stay with each other. They're only there because they know that staying with one another will keep them alive for another day."

It seemed like an awful way to live. To be surrounded by people you didn't know and to only be there just so you could live. There were dynamics between some of them and I could tell that some of them considered each other friends. But the groups within the group were so obvious. Every person had their own favorite and it was obvious just from the way they gravitated towards them. That kind of way of living would get them killed sooner or later. You couldn't just care about one person in the entire group and let the others die just because you never talked to them. It was a barbaric way of thinking...but it seemed to keep you alive for at least one more day if you only form close ties with one person instead of many at a time. It made the emotional pain of seeing them die one day that much easier to handle.

Cammy shook her head. "That's awful. I don't like that."

I rubbed her head comfortingly. That made two of us. "I know. I don't either."

Reaching our room, I let Cammy walk in first, about to follow after her when another door opened and Daryl stepped out of his own room. I noticed how my pistol was stuck in the waistband of his pants beside his bow knife and I knew that I wouldn't be getting that back anytime soon, either. He noticed what I was looking out and shoved his shirt over the gun, hiding it from my view. A silent staredown between the two of us lasted for a minute or two, me staring at him nonchalantly and him giving me a challenging and distrusting look, before I gave him a small nod, walking in and closing the door behind me without waiting for a response from him.

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**Thank you very much, Jemlou-san, for your help and constructive criticism! I really appreciate it! To all you other readers, I highly suggest going to read his/her stories! (Please forgive me, Jemlou-san...I don't know if you're male or female and I'm sorry if that offends you. .) They are simply ASTOUNDING! **

**Thank you for reading! **

**-KalafinaJ**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the slight delay...my dad erased all the internet icons on my computer for some retarded reason and I don't have the money to get them back...thank God for other relatives. That's all I'm gonna say. Cx**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

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I groaned at the sound of voices talking outside in the hallway. Do these people have any idea what time it was? I turned onto my stomach, opening my tired eyes and glaring weakly at the door where all the voices were coming from. It sounded like Sheriff guy, Rick, and his irritating partner with the black hair. I couldn't make out any words, but I knew they were arguing over something important, seeing as how their shadows danced wildly across the door's window. I didn't need three guesses to know just what, or who, they were talking about.

"Why are they up?" Cammy mumbled from her face-down position on the floor. Her arms were firmly planted by her sides and her hair was hanging limply over her face, preventing me from seeing her eyes and the irritated frown that I just knew was on her face. It looked like a very uncomfortable position, but she had been sleeping like that all night and hadn't moved an inch. Then again, now that I thought about it, she hasn't even hit puberty yet, so certain..._parts_ weren't as bothersome to her now as they are for me. Lucky brat...

"They must be getting ready to leave," I said, getting my feet underneath me and standing up slowly. I winced at the flashes of pain that flared up my back and limbs. Cammy turned her head to the side as I hissed at my stretching muscles. I should've moved slower. Save me the energy of being in pain and being unable to move without cringing.

"You're covered in bruises," Cammy commented with a frown, rolling over onto her back and sitting up with her legs crossed in front of her. All up my arms, blue and purple bruises stretched across my skin, many of them thin from me falling onto the table's ledges, but some were as large as a Softball. I had no idea where those could've come from. It hurt to move my arms and my legs trembled under my weight, shaking violently like a leaf caught in a gale. I plopped back down to the ground, unable to continue standing and sighing when the pain eased down to a bearable amount.

It figures that the one time I get hurt, I only managed to crash land onto a wooden table and bruise myself to the point of it hurting to even stand. Complete bullshit, in my opinion. I was pinning the blame on some higher up that was obviously out to get me or something.

"How the hell am I going to get around now?" I grumbled, scratching my head. My eye twitched at the greasy feel in my hair and I pulled my hand away from my head before I was tempted to just pull all of it out by the roots. "I can't even stand, much less run around Atlanta trying to get us out of here."

"Will we have to stay here another night?" Cammy asked.

I shook my head negatively. "We can't. We're dangerously low on supplies and we're more at risk if we stay another night. We have to leave today." _Lies. _We had plenty of supplies that could last us a couple more days if we used them carefully and sparingly, but Cammy didnt' exactly need to know that. But seeing as how she's the one that organizes and takes stock of what little we have every day, I'm surprised she didn't call me out on the bluff right then and there.

Cammy frowned at me, crossing her arms. She looked like a serious Indian child that was trying to appear tough and callous to a superior. It was so adorable. "I can't carry you." Understatement of the century. I wasn't fat. Far from it, to be honest. I barely passed the hundred pound mark, but compared to Cammy's pitiful frame, it would still be too much for her.

My mind took a sudden turn and Rick's face appeared in my mind. I turned to look at the door. Rick and his friend were gone now, but I could still hear them silently argue down the hall. Would it be possible that Rick would be generous enough to actually help Cammy and I get out of the city with them? Surely they wouldn't leave us here to die. Certain individuals from this group would definitely disagree with me here, but from what I've gathered just in the past night, Rick was the leader of this group. And the other members seemed to accept that and followed whatever it was that he said.

I bit my nail thoughtfully. I could feel Cammy's eyes burn into the side of my head, questioning me in that silent way of hers that never failed to send involuntary shivers down my spine. I've never told her, but that look never fails to make me tense up and almost want to reach for my knives. It was like she was trying to see into my soul, pick apart my defenses bit by bit and see what it was that made me tick. It was like I was standing ass naked in front of her, as awkward as that sounded. I knew she didn't mean it, though. She couldn't help it.

I looked up to meet her blue eyes. They shone brightly with curiosity and she tilted her head imploringly, silently asking me what I was thinking. I had my doubts, but I was starting to seriously believe that Rick would willingly help us. He seemed like a nice guy and looked willing to help any survivor that he comes across that doesn't have harmful intentions. My main worry now, though, was his opinion of Cammy.

He knew our father. He had worked with him for the _longest of times_ and probably knew things about us that had slipped right over our heads that our father had told him. He was a friend. But the hesitation and wariness that was in his gaze last night when he heard about Cammy's...condition...it wasn't reassuring. Not in the long run. It concerned me that this new revelation about my little sister would be the key factor in our survival.

"Let's go talk to Rick."

Cammy, who had been staring at the ground quietly, jumped at my voice and looked shocked at my words. "Why do we need to talk to Rick?"

I climbed back to my feet, twitching when my legs began to tremble again and shuffled over to the door, keeping to the wall for balance as I did so. "Rick can probably help us get out of here in the quickest and easiest way possible. It'll save us a lot of trouble if we ask him and see what he says."

Cammy followed after me on quick footsteps, her bare feet slapping loudly against the floor in what I assumed to be an unconscious action. Cammy never had liked the silence. It put her in the weirdest of moods if she were surrounded in silence for long periods of time and she always did her damned best to make sure there was sound around her to keep her occupied. Though she had to restrain that urge more often than not now. Noise was not a nice thing in this new world and she would have to get used to the silence that would no doubt become our best friend if we wanted to survive this pandemic. "I don't like some of these people, Khendra," She muttered. "They're all...so dark."

I came to an immediate halt. "...Dark?" I inquired. My heart began to pick up speed and I suddenly found that I didn't want to hear what it was that Cammy saw in this group. I rubbed my sweaty palms on my pant legs, hoping she wouldn't misinterpret my anxiety for something else as nervous flutters made my stomach twist and turn uncomfortably.

She ignored my action, steadily staring in the direction that Rick had headed. "Especially around that black-haired guy and Daryl. It's like something's constantly breathing down their necks in the worst ways possible."

I swallowed the lump that had taken up residence in my throat. "You know they aren't there, right, Cammy?" Her eyes locked onto my nervous expression and she forced herself to relax, nodding slowly.

"I know," She said lowly, biting her lip. "I know they aren't there. I just..."

I wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders. She didn't hesitate to latch onto my waist, eyes troubled and wary. I wasn't going to say anything reassuring to her since I knew that it would fly right over her head. She never had liked sympathy. We stood there quietly for a while, both of us concentrating on each other's steady breaths, which completely undermined our racing hearts.

"Oh!" We both looked up to see the Asian-looking man standing at the top of the stairs, a red and white baseball cap being twisted to death in his hands. "You're both up. I wasn't sure if it was alright to come and get you two...

Cammy clutched my shirt tightly, sidling behind me as she hid half of herself from the man's view, keeping just enough of her face out so she could watch him. I rubbed her hand soothingly, sending the man a tiny, barely there smile as he shuffled nervously. "Rick want to see us?"

He nodded slowly, his hands stopping their nervous jitters. "Yea. He's downstairs with Shane and Dale. Just wants to know what your plans are, I guess." I didn't remember Shane or Dale being mentioned at all last night. I was gonna guess on a whim and hope that one of them was the curly-haired man. It irritated me that I hadn't placed a name to him yet. Just as it had irritated me that I couldn't place Daryl's name from the beginning either.

"That's fine. I've been meaning to talk to him, anyway." I made my smile a little bit wider so that he would notice it. I didn't miss the soft flush to his cheeks and the girly part of me cooed at how adorably awkward he was. "Thank you, umm..."

He hurried to speak, face a bright neon red in the semi-dark hallway. "Glenn."

"Thank you, Glenn. We really appreciate it." I nudged Cammy gently, urging her to follow my example. She gave me a glower before turning her sharp gaze to Glenn. His once red face almost instantly paled at the look Cammy was giving him. He looked like he wanted to flee from the area. I silently hoped he didn't. I couldn't have Cammy scaring off our potential rides out of the city like this.

"Thank you, Glenn," Her high-voice was pitched lower than normal and I wondered if she was trying to appear harmless or if she was trying to intimidate him into leaving by trying to sound gravely. I was hoping desperately for the former.

Glenn swallowed roughly, shaky laughter escaping his lips. "Y-You're welcome," He stuttered, wringing his hands into his hat again before he stopped and cleared his throat. "Um...Rick is downstairs, like I said, and he's willing to talk whenever you're ready." He scratched the back of his head, avoiding our eyes as he looked at the wall. "So, um...yea." He waved his hand at his awkwardly, hurriedly walking back down the stairs. "Bye!"

I slapped Cammy upside the head, frowning at her in a disapproval once Glenn was out of sight. She turned her nose up away from me, refusing to meet my gaze and acknowledging the fact that she was in trouble. I shook my head at her, sighing under my breath before I headed downstairs, Cammy trailing after me like a kicked puppy as she pouted sullenly at my back.

There weren't that many people up when we got downstairs. Just the two men that Glenn mentioned and Rick. Not that I was surprised really. A quick glance at the only non-boarded window in the room told me that it was barely past dawn yet. Shit. I'd still be sleeping if Rick hadn't woken me up. I didn't believe in the idea of getting up with the sun. That was just a stupid thing to do in my opinion. I was obviously not a morning bird and it put me in a foul mood if I didn't get to sleep in. Let's be honest now. You needed all the sleep that you can get in this damn world.

I was taken aback by the friendly smile Rick gave me as he approached, though I was even more surprised at the polite nod he gave Cammy. She shared my thoughts exactly, a dumbfounded look on her face before she schooled it back into the indifferent expression she had given Glenn. I didn't complain when she once again fisted her hands into my shirt. I hid a smirk. My own personal shadow.

"Good mornin'," He said, still smiling as he led us to one of the still upright tables, offering me his arm as support when I was still slightly wobbly.

I stifled a yawn, though my eyes scrunched up and watered as I held back the urge. "Doesn't feel like it's morning. It still feels like it's nighttime." I murmured a small thank you to him for his help as Cammy and I sat in two of the offered chairs.

Rick nodded sympathetically as he sat down across from us. "I know the feelin'. Feel like I could sleep for a week and it still wouldn't be enough."

"An apocalypse will do that to you," Cammy muttered under her breath, keeping her head down so Rick wouldn't see the teasing glint in her eyes. He seemed to catch her humor, though, because a small chuckle escaped his lips.

"Inquisitive, aren't ya?"

I instantly noticed the softer light that appeared in Cammy's eyes and repressed the grin that I knew was coming. She was lowering her defenses around the unconsciously kind man. "Not inquisitive," She corrected. "Just a simple fact."

Rick chuckled, reaching across the space between the two of them and ruffled her hair in a semi-affectionate way. Cammy's body tensed at the contact, her eyes remaining firmly locked on Rick's hand as he messed up her already awful bedhead. Her shoulders dropped when he wasn't hurting her and relaxed into his touch, a tiny smile curling the side of her lips. I could see the sense of victory that Rick felt in the grin he passed me as he pulled his hand back when Cammy didn't outright attack him. I peeked a glance at her and stifled a giggle. She looked disappointed that he had stopped his rubbing of her hair.

"I have to say," Rick began, "I'm surprised to see you two still alive."

I arched an eyebrow at him. "You're saying this to Bryson's two prides and joys? Do you have any idea what kind of extremes our father would go to just to keep our asses from getting so much as a scratch on us?"

"I know exactly what kinda man Bryson was," Rick said in an amused voice. "I worked with the crazy bastard for a _long _time. I knew all of his silly little quirks and I knew just what it was that made the man tick like a bomb when I wanted to."

A disturbed look crossed Cammy's face and an embarrassed blush covered Rick's cheeks when he realized what he had said. I couldn't contain the laugh that escaped me as Rick spluttered to come up with an excuse his poorly-said statement. Cammy shook her head at him, using her hair to hide the amused smile on her lips.

"You're something else, Rick Grimes," I said when I finally stopped laughing. "I can see why you and our dad are friends."

Whatever expression had been present on Rick's face instantly sobered up at that and he turned serious. I inwardly cursed myself for ruining the laughing mood. It's always me that has to ruin the fun for someone. Cammy seemed to agree with my silent thought because a cocked eyebrow and a small frown were directed at me at the sudden turn in mood. I stuck my tongue out at her, silently telling her to screw off. She rolled her eyes, having read between the lines, and stuck her tongue out at me in retaliation.

"Where are your parents?"

I frowned at the blunt question, avoiding his searching eyes with annoyance evident. Seeing my apparent displeasure of the new topic, Cammy answered for me. "We don't know," She said, folding her hands in her lap.

Rick tipped his head to the side. "How do you _not _know?"

"She means that we haven't been in contact with our parents after all this shit started." Cammy blinked through my colorful language. I made a note to apologize to her later. "We've been on our own from the very beginning."

Rick didn't seem to like this news. A heavy frown was settled on his lips and his eyes were narrowed. A memory from a time I long thought was gone surfaced at that moment. My father sitting outside with me when I was just fresh out of high school, fiddling with the silly necklace that he always wore around his neck. Him showing me pictures of his time at the station and some of his closest friends that worked there with him. One of the pictures that stuck out in my head was one that had contained Rick in it. He had a little boy sitting on his shoulders, wearing his Sheriff hat, but it was so big on him that it completely covered his face. His smile was still present, though. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

Of course. Rick was a family man. He was close with his son. He cared for him like any parent should care for their children. And here Cammy and I were, wandering the streets of Atlanta on our own with no parental supervision whatsoever. No father or mother trailing behind us and offering protection like Rick was for his son. He pitied us.

_No. _I mentally shook my head at the word. Rick didn't pity us. He was just worried. We were Bryson's kids. Bryson was one of his closest friends and because of that association, he considered us part of the whacked up family as well. He was concerned for our well-being as a good friend of Bryson's.

"You don't have to look after us just because you feel indebted to." I violently cringed at the monotone in my voice as I said my thought unconsciously. It sounded so harsh and cold. Uncaring. I really wasn't, though. More than anything, I was actually quite flattered and relieved by Rick's obvious worry of us. It felt almost...normal again to have someone worrying over Cammy and I. Like a parent.

_But he's not your father. He never will be no matter how hard he tries. _

I shivered at the dark thought. I hoped Rick wouldn't notice my strange reaction. The man was damn smart and too inquisitive for his own good. He might ask questions that I just don't want to answer. And then he'd turn to Cammy, whom I knew for a damn well fact would get me to blab my heart out with a few placed words.

Rick looked almost sad at my words. Like a kicked puppy. I hated that look. I was a sucker for it and despised seeing on people's faces. "I don't feel indebted at all, Khendra." My hand twitched at the casual usage of my name and resisted the urge to correct him. "I'm just worried for you and your sister's well-being, is all."

A snort sounded from the side-lines and Rick's friend stalked to his side, a tiny sneer on his lips as his dark eyes roved between Cammy and I. Cammy glared in his direction, inching towards me when the man was too close for her personal comfort. "Problem, Officer?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

He ignored my words, something that had me bristling indignantly. "I don't know why you're even tryin', Rick," He said. "The little lady obviously thinks she's fine on her own. Why not just leave her be? Let her fend for herself like she says she can?"

_Little lady? _Anger coursed like electricity throughout my body at the man's nickname. If there was one thing I hated more than rudeness, it was obnoxious nicknames and a false sense of kindness. This man was purposefully pushing buttons he didn't know what kind of damage they could do. And who the hell does he think he's calling _little_?! A growl rumbled in my chest and I fought the urge to make it heard. _Oh sure. Make fun of my lack of height just because you couldn't think of any better nicknames. Real fucking mature, asswipe._

Rick gave his friend an unamused look. "They're kids, Shane." I wasn't even gonna correct that one. Complete waste of breath since I knew Rick would just ignore me in favor of arguing with his friend. "We can't just leave them here."

Shane shrugged his broad shoulders in an uncaring way. "Why not? They seem to be doin' just fine on their own before we came along."

"We're actually just barely getting by," Cammy said quietly, avoiding the annoyed stare Shane sent her. It was clear as day to me that she was lying. We weren't just getting by. We were actually well-fed and had plenty of resources, unlike these people, who look like they're all competing against each other for the Most Anorexic title. But then again, these people didn't know what our inventory was and Cammy was taking full advantage of that. She cast Shane another glare, one which he returned with equal force. "In case you haven't noticed, the city is completely ransacked. There's nothing here."

"Have you even looked hard enough?" He asked sarcastically. Clearly he didn't get the memo that the city was emptied pretty much from the get-go.

Cammy sneered at him. "We've been here for two weeks. I'm pretty sure we would have found any and all supplies that were left behind when all this started."

I elbowed her gently in the ribs. Her eyes flickered over to me. "Quit antagonizing him," I said. "We don't need enemies at a time like this."

"We aren't your enemies," Rick immediately interjected, scowling at Shane when he made to reply. "We aren't here to harm you or your sister, Khendra." Here he smiled gently, hoping to appear harmless. He was working that smile like a charm. I almost forgot the antagonistic asshole beside him because of that smile. "I just want to help."

"Shane, leave them alone already," A voice sighed in complete frustration. The pretty brunette from last night ushered the little boy that had stuck himself at Rick's side last night to one of the still upright tables, quietly telling him to sit down for a little bit while she went to grab him breakfast. He nodded tiredly and settled his head on the wood in a feeble attempt to fall brunette placed a hand on Rick's shoulder, giving it a squeeze before she gave Shane a pointed look. "Give them some space, for God's sakes. This isn't your conversation to just barge into. Rick said he'd handle it _without _your help."

I got the feeling that she didn't like Shane. Good. I wasn't the only one. First impressions were always a thing with me and he certainly wasn't leaving any good marks so far. I resisted the urge to piss him off by giving him the universal "shoo shoo" motion and watched with heavy amusement as the brunette did it for me, leading him away by his arm as he grumbled and growled under his breath at her. She shook her head at him and released him only when they were at a far enough away distance from our table.

Rick smiled at the brunette as she waltzed back upstairs, Shane sitting in a chair by his lonesome self at a table and mumbling under his breath. I desperately wanted to know what it was that he was bitching about, but seeing as how he was too far away from us for me to be able to read his lips, it was a fruitless wish. "I'm sorry about Shane," Rick apologized. "He's just stressed. We've had a tryin' couple days."

I waved his apology away callously. "It's fine," I reassured him.

Cammy gave Rick a strange smile, one which I knew he wanted to recoil from because I felt the same urge to do so, but he held back the urge for fear of offending the both of us. "We've dealt with far worse than an irate officer. If anything, he's the tamest one so far."

Rick desperately wanted to comment on that. I could see it clear as day in his eyes. He cast me a glance and I pleaded with my eyes for him not to press for answers. He thankfully heeded my plea and ignored the urge, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned on the table.

"I'm just gonna cut to the chase. What are you two going to do after today?"

Thank God for small miracles. I was glad Rick was tired of trying to pick us apart and had just gotten to the question he had been itching to ask ever since we got up. Quite frankly, I was already at whit's end just from being up this early and my patience levels were practically nonexistent at this point.

"We were gonna get out of this deathtrap, for one. We can't stay here. We've waited as long as we could for our dad to get here and seeing as how he isn't here, I can only assume the worst." I pulled Cammy to my side, relishing in her presence regardless of how disturbed and uncomfortable she could sometimes make me feel. "I have to keep Cammy's safety in mind here since mom and dad aren't coming. It'd be better if I got her out of here as soon as I can. Preferably today after you guy's leave."

"What about once you get out of here? What then?"

Cammy's eyes connected nervously with mine. Rick didn't miss the silent communication between the two of us and his eyes began to shine brightly with newfound determination. If that was a chance to gain sympathy, then I don't know what was. Hopefully he would fall for it. "We were just going to survive off the land, I guess," I said in a purposefully unsure tone. "We don't have a home to go back to and I'm not comfortable traveling all the way to Wisconsin just to see if our house is still standing."

Rick looked surprised then. "You can hunt?"

I hesitated before answering. "Not very well. I can make snares and other traps, but I'm not very efficient with hunting big animals. I don't have anything but my guns. And those usually end up scaring off whatever animals in the general area."

I felt bad about using our current situation on the kind officer. It was almost like lying, but it really wasn't. Honestly, I hadn't really thought much of what I was going to with Cammy once we got out of Atlanta. I was confident we could last awhile out in the wilderness, but we both would get tired of it and would eventually end up doing stupid shit just to spice up our already dangerous lifestyle.

Rick arched an eyebrow. "You know from experience?"

I blushed at the reminder of my painful days of first learning how to hunt after this pandemic hit. The amount of times the two of us have had to run away from Biters because of all the noise I had made while I was trying to hunt was so embarrassing that I had no desire to recollect on those awful days. It was a harsh blow to my ego. I wasn't particularly vain when it comes to my abilities, but this particular fuck up of mine was bad enough to actually deal a crushing blow to my confidence levels.

"Let's just say we both got into shape _real fast _those first few days on our own," Cammy deadpanned from beside me when I finally decided to let her go. If possible, I somehow managed to blush harder than I already was. I laughed nervously at the stink eye Cammy gave me and I waved my hands in a placating gesture at the irate child.

"I already told you I was sorry! I was still learning! At least give me credit when I managed to actually get us food!"

Rick chuckled softly at us. "That's not very reassurin' if I intend to leave you guys here," He said.

I pressed my fingers together idly, nervousness clawing at my stomach like a rabid animal. Moment of truth time. "We were actually hoping you would take us with you."

He blinked at us in surprise. From across the room, Shane released an annoyed sound and threw his hands up in exasperation. Covering Cammy's eyes, I flipped him off in a way that he could obviously see. Stupid eavesdropper. I uncovered her eyes when I lowered my hand and turned back to Rick, who watched the exchange what I thought was mirth.

"You're comin' with us?"

"Just until the outskirts of the city. We don't want to burden your group for too long." I cast Shane a distrusting look, one which Rick caught. "That, and I don't think Officer Asshole over there is very pleased with our interference with whatever plans you guys already have."

Rick waved my worry aside. "Don't worry about Shane. Like I said, he's just stressed."

_More like he's hiding something from you, _I thought idly. _Him and that brunette are. _

I nodded my head absently. Cammy answered the unspoken question that Rick had silently been asking. "We'll come with you, but we'll fend for ourselves the entire time, if that's alright." Here she gave Shane a suspicious frown. "We don't need to be making any more enemies than we already have."

~o~o~o~o~

It was a long while before all the other members of the group finally decided to wake up and come downstairs. The sun had risen long into early afternoon when the last man that Rick had told us was named T-Dog finally came downstairs. Cammy was interested in the man for some strange reason. And it wasn't even his shorter version of his original name that had her interested.

"He's bright," She had told me. "I don't know how to explain it, but he's very bright. He's not like Shane or that other man, Daryl, who are constantly dark and angry. He's a relief to me."

A blunt way of putting it, but I wasn't gong to judge her. She had her own little quirks of how a person should be judged and while Shane and Daryl obviously hadn't passed her mysterious test, T-Dog certainly had with little to no effort on his part. I didn't know what Cammy meant when she said a person was "bright" or "dark". I had assumed that she meant a person's aura, but watching her interact with others when I was younger had that theory thrown out the window. Since Cammy couldn't explain what it was that she saw in a person, I had eventually given up on ever understanding what it was that she was trying to tell me. Her judge in character of a person has never been wrong as far as I was concerned. And T-Dog seemed like a genuinely nice person, so he was okay in my books, too, I guess.

Cammy had stuck to his hip since she had first introduced herself to him. He was a little unnerved at first. I didn't blame him. I'd be a little freaked out, too, if some random little girl all of sudden decided to hang around me when I've never met her before. Apart from Cammy's strange personality, T-Dog didn't seem to overly mind having her around him once he got used to her in the short hour that they've been together. She was a silent presence that didn't bother him much and it kept her occupied for a little while. Gives me a tiny reprieve from having to watch her after so long. I would have to thank him later for being the unknowing babysitter.

"Is everyone ready?" Rick asked the group before him. By some miracle, everyone had managed to get everything they had together in record time and were standing beside a line of cars that I assumed to be theirs. When no one said anything, Rick continued. "Alright, then." He turned to T-Dog, Daryl, and Shane. "I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to leave your cars here." Angry scowls mirrored both Shane's and Daryl's faces and Rick hurried to appease the two men. "We need to save the gas and your cars take up a lot of it. We need all the resources that we can save for the trip to Fort Benning."

T-Dog seemed the only one who was not concerned about this new development. He nodded at Rick's orders and started getting all of his things from his van. Cammy trailed after the man, offering her help in carrying some of his bags when he couldn't get all of them in one go. He ruffled her hair affectionately and lead her towards the huge ass RV that he would be traveling in. His action received him a pleased grin from the little girl. Shane and Daryl grumbled obscenities under their breath before they, too, began to get all of their things from the cars, Shane throwing all of his belongings in what I assumed to be Rick's car and Daryl throwing his in the RV with T-Dog's.

"Rick," the older man, whom I was told was named Dale, called. "We might have some problems with seating here."

I liked Dale. He didn't beat around the bush like everyone else seemed to enjoy doing. Thank God there was still one humane person still alive on this seemed to like him, too, but she wasn't as interested with him as she was with T-Dog, seeing as how she had yet to stick around the old man for very long.

"How many can you still fit in the RV?" Rick asked in concern.

"At best, one isn't a lot of room for two extras."

Rick cursed and the brunette beside him lightly slapped his arm and gave the boy beside him a pointed look. Rick gave her a sheepish smile and gave the boy a one-armed hug, one which he enthusiastically returned. I pursed my lips at the pleading look he gave me. I didn't even last a whole minute before I sighed.

"Where do you want us to go?" I really only trusted Rick and T-Dog with Cammy as of right now since the two of them aren't annoyed with her presence and I'm positive that they wouldn't let anything happen to her. But seeing as how Rick has his own family to worry about and another woman and her chlid in his car and T-Dog is riding with Dale, it put me in a tight spot. Rick looked pointedly at something over my shoulder. I turned around and glanced at the only other person who had a bat's chance in Hell of keeping Cammy from somehow killing herself.

"I don't know," I said hesitantly. "I don't trust him, Rick."

He shook his head and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "One of you has to ride with him. He'll keep either one of you safe regardless if he dislikes you or not."

I gave the surly redneck a doubting gaze. Violent and abrasive. Those would be the two biggest adjectives that I would use to describe him. In the short period of time that I've known the man, he was one of those people that followed more instinct than logic. That was a dangerous man to trust a child with and I wasn't sure even I wanted to be near the man when all he does is grumble and growl obscenities under his breath and curse the world like it had done him personal wrong.

Cammy looked between the two of us and stared at the soon to be bane of my existence. "One of us has to ride with him, right?" She questioned curiously. At Rick's affirmative, she did a quick once over of the man as he easily pulled the motorcycle that had been sitting in the bed of his truck out and carefully placing it on the ground and nodded to herself. "I'll do it." She was already walking over to him before I could even get a word out and I could only watch in barely concealed surprise when she stopped before him.

His head turned to look down at the little girl that yanked at the back of his shirt and his eyebrow raised slightly. Her lips barely moved as she pointed at his bike first, then at the group of us waiting with held breaths. His eyes narrowed in annoyance and he gave Rick a glare. He gave the redneck a shaky grin and scratched at the back of his head. He scowled at the action and turned his attention back to Cammy. I saw her watery eyes and almost wanted to face-palm. It seemed that Daryl didn't do well with kids in near-tears because he gave an aggravated hiss before shaking his head and shooing her away. Cammy walked back to us with an accomplished smirk on her face.

"He'll take me." Everyone released the collective breath that they had been holding and started towards their designated vehicles. I pulled Cammy aside and kneeled in front of her. She noticed my serious face and the smirk faded from her lips, replaced with a blank, closed off expression.

"Are you sure about this?"

She nodded once. "I'll be fine." She looked over shoulder at Daryl as he kick-started the bike. "It shouldn't be too hard for me to ignore that dark stuff that's hanging around him. It doesn't look too harmful."

"You'll signal for Dale to stop if it bothers you too much, right?" When she didn't answer immediately, I gave her shoulders a small shake. "Please, Cammy. At least let me have this reassurance so I won't be worrying too much."

Her fingers rested gently on my cheek and she rubbed the dirtied skin there in a tender way. "I will," She said softly, grabbing one of my hands and making me hook one of my pinkies around hers. "I promise."

The roar of a bike had both of us jumping and Daryl pulled up beside us with his ever present scowl on his face. "Let's go, kid," He grumbled, shifting forward on the seat to make room for Cammy. "Don't have all day to wait on your slow ass."

My eye twitched and I was assaulted with the violent urge to slap the man upside the head. Colorful. This man had some _colorful _language under his belt and it was highly obvious he had no filter when it came to it. Cammy brushed away my hands and scrambled onto the bike as best as she could with her short height. Locking her hands together around his waist, Cammy gave me a tiny smile and nod of her head before she and Daryl began inching away from me and heading towards the front of the little caravan.

I waited until the bike had disappeared in front of the RV before marching into said RV and sitting my happy ass down beside T-Dog, who gave me a heavy pat on the shoulders before Dale started the behemoth and followed after the bike that carried precious cargo on its back.

_You better not let her get hurt, redneck, _I growled in my mind. _So much as a scratch and I'll make sure you won't reproduce ever again. _

**I'm sorry for the lateness. Hope I did alright with this new installment! Thank you for reading! :)**


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